CEO of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), Dr. Hisham bin Saad Aljadhey, recently met with Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Emer Cooke. This came during a visit by a delegation from the SFDA to EMA's headquarters in Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands, to discuss several topics related to drug control to ensure their effectiveness and safety. During the meeting, they reviewed the roles played by the SFDA during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the effectiveness of medicines. They also reviewed the European experience in control using large data bases, and the possibility of EMA benefiting from drug information in the Arabic language that SFDA has. Dr. Aljadhey stressed the importance of joint cooperation and continuous coordination between the two sides to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medicines, and the importance of continuing communication between the technical teams of both sides. He also emphasized the importance to discuss opportunities for joint learning between the two sides, due to its positive impact on the safety and quality of medicines. It is noteworthy that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was established in 1995, and is a decentralized agency of the European Union (EU) responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU. It includes 27 members is to foster scientific excellence in the evaluation and supervision of medicines, for the benefit of public and animal health in the EU.
