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Report and Recording 📅 Date: 13 March 2025 ⏰ Time: 16:00 – 17:00 CET 📍 Location: Online Securing Medicine Availability and Patien...
Report and Recording 📅 Date: 13 May 2025 ⏰ Time: 17:00–18:30 CET 📍 Location: Online (link provided upon regi...
Founder and CEO of Health4.EU, advising healthcare stakeholders on EU health policy and market access. Former Secretary General of COCIR (2022–2025), where she led the association’s digital and strategic transformation and represented it in the €2.4bn Innovative Health Initiative, and former Secretary General of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), representing over 1.7 million physicians. A qualified lawyer (member of the Cologne Bar) with an LL.M. with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland, and a Fellow of the SCIANA Health Leaders Network.
Former Head of the Austrian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (AGES Medizinmarktaufsicht) from 2013, and Chair of the EMA Management Board from 2016 to 2022 (two terms). A biochemist by training with a doctorate from the Technical University of Vienna, she spent her career in medicines quality assessment and marketing authorisation, latterly as one of Europe’s most senior medicines regulators.
Member of the European Parliament for the Croatian Democratic Union (EPP) since 2019 and a leading MEP on health. He was the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the Critical Medicines Act, and previously Parliament rapporteur on the European Health Data Space. He holds a PhD from KU Leuven on cross-border healthcare in the EU, sits on the Subcommittee on Public Health, and is also a senior academic in Zagreb.
Member of the European Parliament since 2024 and former European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety (2014–2019). He is the European Parliament’s (co-)rapporteur on the EU Biotech Act. A cardiovascular surgeon by profession, he was a co-signatory of Lithuania’s 1990 Act of Independence, served six terms in the Lithuanian parliament and as national Health Minister, and was WHO Special Envoy for the European Region from 2020.
Head of Unit for Medicinal Products — quality, safety and innovation (Unit D2) at the European Commission’s DG SANTE, the unit at the heart of EU medicines policy including the new pharmaceutical legislation and work on the Critical Medicines Act. A pharmacist by training with a diploma in pharmaceutical engineering, she has long led Commission work on medicines quality, safety and supply, including the Falsified Medicines Directive, the Clinical Trials Regulation and GMP/GDP standards.
Ms Cooke is Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency. Starting her mandate in November 2020 amid a public health crisis of unprecedented scale she announced “My number one priority will be to drive forward EMA’s response to the pandemic and the work already ongoing to support the development and approval of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.” Doing precisely that in her role at EMA, alongside her Chairmanship of ICMRA (2020-2025), has earned her various accolades including the ‘European of the Year 2022’ award by European Movement Ireland and Honorary Doctorates in Science (RCSI – 2023 and NUI – 2025). Ms Cooke obtained a pharmacy degree and master’s degrees in both Science and Business Administration from Trinity College Dublin.
Head of Supply and Availability of Medicines and Devices at EMA since 2021, responsible for implementing the Agency’s extended mandate on shortages under Regulation (EU) 2022/123. She co-chairs the HMA/EMA Task Force and chairs the Medicine Shortages SPOC Working Party. A pharmacist (Lisbon) with a PhD from Cardiff, she joined EMA in 2004.
Deputy Director-General of DG HERA, the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, which he joined in 2023. His earlier Commission career includes serving as Director for Internal Security and EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator (2018–2023) and Director for Migration and Protection (2013–2018).
President of INFARMED — Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento e Produtos de Saúde, I.P. (National Authority of Medicines and Health Products, I.P.) since 2019, and Chair of the EMA Management Board since March 2025 (previously vice-chair and a Board member since 2016). A pharmacist and specialist in hospital pharmacy and pharmaceutical regulation, he is an Associate Professor of Medicines Regulation at the University of Lisbon and received the 2024 TOPRA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Director of the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) since 2018 and a member of the EMA Management Board. A pharmacist with a Doctor of Pharmacy (University of Santiago de Compostela) and a specialist in hospital and oncology pharmacy, she previously headed the pharmacy service at Santiago University Hospital and represents Spain in the network of European medicines agencies.
Gloria Ghéquière is Deputy Head of Cabinet to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke. She has a broad portfolio covering pharmaceutical policy, including budgetary responsibility, pricing and reimbursement, managing medicine shortages, substances of human origin, and clinical trials policy.
During Belgium’s 2024 EU Presidency, Ghéquière was instrumental in advancing the Critical Medicines Act, a landmark legislation addressing medicine shortages and supply security across Europe. This work reflects her sustained engagement with international pharmaceutical policy questions, particularly equitable access to medicines, resilience of global supply chains, and the intersection of trade policy and public health.
Prior to her cabinet role, Ghéquière served as adviser on international trade in the European Parliament, where she specialised in pharmaceutical value chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. She played a key role in establishing the Parliament’s Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic (COVI), which shaped EU policy responses to health crises.
Ghéquière holds degrees in Philosophy from Ghent University and European Studies from KU Leuven
Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) since April 2017. She has some 30 years in the biotech and pharma sectors, previously serving seven years as Secretary General of EuropaBio — ranked Brussels’ most effective trade association in 2013 — and holds an honours degree in biochemistry and biotechnology from the University of St Andrews.
Director General of Medicines for Europe (generics, biosimilars and value-added medicines) since 2013, focusing on competition in off-patent markets, access, shortage reduction and EU industrial strategy. Formerly Deputy Director General of BusinessEurope, he sits on the boards of EMVO and IGBA and on HERA’s joint industry advisory council.
Chief Executive Officer of MedTech Europe since January 2023, having joined the association in 2017 and previously led its regulatory and industrial-policy work. Earlier roles include Director of Regulatory Policy EMEA at Medtronic and positions at COCIR and EDANA. A dual Australian-Maltese national, he holds degrees from the Australian National University and Aberystwyth University
Works in the Global Supply Chain function of AstraZeneca, where over more than ten years he has held accountability for market/product supply of the company’s medicines and vaccines across several European commercial affiliates — giving him a front-line, operational view of network design and continuity of supply. He also chairs the EFPIA Supply Chain Working Group and its Drug Shortage Work Stream. With 15 years in pharmaceutical supply chain, distribution and customer service, he holds a master’s in health care economics from Bocconi and and holds a PhD from Politecnico di Milano.
General Manager (Managing Director) of Pharma Logistik Austria GmbH, based in Wels, Austria, bringing a healthcare-distribution and logistics perspective on allocation and distribution visibility. His earlier career spans senior roles at Richter Pharma, Celesio and Haniel, with expertise in business strategy, change management and negotiation.
Senior Advisor for Strategic Alliance Development at EUCOPE (the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs), representing SME pharma and advanced-therapy (ATMP) interests. A German-qualified lawyer with some 20 years in life sciences and market access, he headed the Brussels/European office of the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPI) and was instrumental in setting up EUCOPE, where he served as Legal Counsel; his industry experience includes leadership roles at Alexion.
Secretary General of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), which represents more than 400,000 community pharmacists across 32 countries, since 2018. Italian, she brings a strong patient- and consumer-facing perspective from her earlier role as Head of the Food and Health Department at BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, and previously served on the EMA Management Board.
Director of the European Social Insurance Platform (ESIP), the umbrella body for 45 national statutory social-security institutions across 18 countries, since 2022. Bringing a payer and procurement perspective, he previously led medicines-access advocacy at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), served on the EMA Management Board (2019–2021) and is a board member of the European Health Forum Gastein.
Sarada Das is the Secretary General of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME). CPME represents national medical associations across Europe and is committed to contributing the medical profession’s point of view to EU and European policy-making through pro-active cooperation on a wide range of health and healthcare related issues.
Ms Das has been working for CPME since 2009 and has i.a. assisted the CPME membership in its activities relating to professional practice and ethics. She was appointed as Secretary General in 2022.
Ms Das holds a B.A. in European Studies and an LL.M. in European Law from Maastricht University, as well as an M.Sc. in Business Economics and Management from KU Leuven.
Secretary-General of the European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA) since November 2023, the alliance of leading European university hospitals collaborating on excellence and innovation in healthcare, research and education. Trained at KU Leuven with research fellowships at Oxford, he specialised in medical microbiology and hospital management and served as medical director and governing-board member of University Hospital Leuven.
Rosa Castro is Public Affairs Director at EURORDIS – Rare Diseases Europe, which she joined in 2025. She works on advancing policies that improve treatment access for rare disease patients across Europe, drawing on extensive experience in European health policy across academic research, teaching, advocacy, and consultancy. Her expertise sits at the intersection of law, health, and innovation, with a particular focus on access to medicines. She holds a Master’s and PhD in Law and Economics and an MA in Bioethics and Science, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute (Florence) and Duke University (USA).
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