The European Medicines Agency (EMA) says it expects the number of medicines approved this year to hold steady at around 97, compared to 95 in 2010.
The EMA has seen its workload grow rapidly over the past decade but looks set for a more stable period as the number of new drugs tapers off.
A recruitment freeze means no new staff will be appointed this year, with the exception of a new Executive Director to replace Thomas Lönngren who stepped down at the end of December. A dispute between the European Commission and the EMA over the salary for Lönngren’s replacement has left the regulator without a director until the summer.
In the absence of a new executive director, the Agency’s board published a new Road Map to 2015 in which it pledges to expand the EMA’s role in public health, facilitating access to medicines, and optimising the safe use of medicines.
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