EuropaBio’s National Association and Healthcare Councils hold virtual meetings

The National Association Council (NAC) and Healthcare Council (HC) of EuropaBio, the European umbrella association for biotechnology, convened in late November. The NAC is a body that brings together the national biotechnology associations that are organised in EuropaBio. The associations began by discussing national activities focused on resilience. It became clear that all European countries are increasingly working on this topic. Participants then discussed other issues that the biotechnology associations are currently addressing (at both the national and European levels), such as requirements for ATMPs in clinical trials, improvements for accelerating translation in biopharmaceuticals, development of and expectations on the EU agency HERA, and calls for a suspension of vaccine patents. In addition, the work and planning of the EuropaBio SME Platform was presented.

In the HC, EuropaBio’s work on the EU pharmaceutical strategy was discussed. The experts also exchanged views on the revision of the EU Orphan Drug Regulation and on paediatric medicine legislation. The Council assessed current regulatory requirements and discussed potential improvements that can be made based on lessons learned during the pandemic. It was agreed that the Orphan Drug Regulation needs to be revised in order to clearly address the needs of rare disease patients, but that overall this regulation is a success story that should be continued. Finally, an overview was given on the current status of other topics: the European Health Data Space, biosimilars and public procurement, and the Patient BioForum.