A €10 million grant from the European Commission will allow the European Medicines Agency to provide support to the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), in collaboration with African, European and international actors. The agreement signed between the EU Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships and EMA marked the official launch of the project. AMA will act as the specialised agency of the African Union (AU) for the regulation and oversight of key medicinal products in Africa.
The treaty establishing AMA has already been signed by 27 African countries, and some other are expected to complete the process in the coming months. EMA’s role in supporting the creation of the African Medicines Agency would also benefit from the long-standing experience of the national regulatory authorities that are part of the European medicines regulatory network (EMRN). More in particular, the EMRN will share experience with AMA in pooling resources and coordinating work to regulate medicines efficiently and effectively, ensuring high-quality standards and use of the best available expertise, while reducing administrative burden.