Emer Cooke
Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency
Assumed office
16 November 2020
Preceded byGuido Rasi
Personal details
Born (1961-04-09) 9 April 1961 (age 62)
NationalityIrish
Alma materTrinity College Dublin

Emer Cooke is an Irish pharmacist and Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) since November 2020.[1] She is also the chairperson at the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA).[2]

Education

Cooke obtained a pharmacy degree at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland in 1982, following which she remained at Trinity to complete Master's degrees in Science and in Business Administration [3]

Career

Starting in 1985, she held various positions in the pharmaceutical sector.[4] From 1992 to 1995 and from 1996 to 1998 she worked for the lobbying organisation European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)[a] as Manager of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs.[5][4][6] She was Principal Administrator in the Pharmaceuticals Unit of the European Commission between 1998 and 2002, with responsibility for inspections, international activities and legislative initiatives. Ms Cooke joined EMA on 1 July 2002 where she worked first as Head of Inspections and then as Head of International Affairs.[4] From 2021 she was appointed as Head of Regulation of Medicines and other Health Technologies with the World Health Organization (WHO).[3]

EMA executive director

In November 2020 Cooke was appointed Executive Director of the EMA,[1] also taking the position of chairperson at the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) at the same time.[2] This was in the context of the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 16 March 2021, Cooke led an EMA press conference to inform about the ongoing investigation into reports of side-effects related to the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Cooke said the EMA remains "firmly convinced" that the vaccine benefits outweigh the risks of potential side effects.[7][8]

Cooke's appointment was criticized in a session of the Austrian Parliament on 1 April 2021 when member of parliament Gerald Hauser claimed a potential conflict of interest between her allowing the vaccine in her regulatory function, while having worked for the very same industry as a lobbyist in the past.[9][10]

References

Notes

  1. ^ The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) is a trade association and lobbying organisation representing the research-based f industry operating in Europe

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "Emer Cooke takes office as head of EMA". Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "ICMRA Chair". Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Emer Cooke". Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c EMA (6 August 2021). "Executive Director". European Medicines Agency. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. ^ "WHO | Emer Cooke". WHO. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Irishwoman lands EU drugs agency's top job". POLITICO. 25 June 2020.
  7. ^ "AstraZeneca jab: EU regulator 'firmly convinced' benefits outweigh risks". Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  8. ^ "EMA 'firmly convinced' benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine higher than risks". Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  9. ^ "FPÖ – Hauser: EMA-Direktorin hat ihr ganzes Arbeitsleben mit Lobbying für die Pharmaindustrie verbracht". OTS.at.
  10. ^ "Gerald Hauser zeigt Brisantes über die Impfstoffzulassung auf!" – via www.youtube.com.
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