International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities

The International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) is a global conference of government health bureaucrats.[1][2]

History

edit

In 2012, at the margins of the 65th World Health Assembly conference in May the Minister of Health of Brazil proposed an agenda to create a new coalition of Heads of Agency "to address current and emerging human medicine regulatory and safety challenges globally, strategically and in an ongoing, transparent, authoritative and institutional manner."[3]

The health bureaucrats pursued this agenda again in October, at the International Conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities (ICDRA), and again in December 2012 at the Heads of Medicines Regulatory Agencies Summit. "As a result, a consensus has emerged on the desirability of developing an ICMRA to address common issues."[3]

Amongst the reasons cited for this body to be established was "Continued industry and political pressures to harmonise and align regulatory practices and activities."[3]

COVID-19 response

edit

The ICMRA "held a global medicines regulators web meeting on March 18, 2020. Discussions included regulatory considerations for anticipated COVID-19 vaccine candidates to advance regulatory convergence. A key objective of the meeting was to discuss and agree on an approach to the requirements to support first-in-human clinical trials."[4]

The ICMRA issued a joint press release on 28 April 2020. The ICMRA held three virtual meetings with more than 100 participants each from our 29 members over the month of April. The chief result of these meetings was to streamline regulatory oversight during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Participants

edit

The World Health Organization is listed as an observer. The list of participants as of April 2020 is as follows:[6]

As of April 2020, associate members are listed below:[6]

References

edit
  1. ^ Balfour, Hannah (10 May 2021). "ICMRA and WHO state clinical trial reports should be published without redaction". Russell Publishing Limited. European Pharmaceutical Review.
  2. ^ "Regulators explore new methods to evaluate vaccines for latecomers". Kyodo News. 29 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "History of ICMRA". ICMRA. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Canada's response". Government of Canada. 2020-04-23. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  5. ^ "ICMRA statement on COVID-19" (PDF). ICMRA. 28 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b "ICMRA Membership Country/Region and Regulatory Authority' s website". ICMRA. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
edit