Dive Brief:
- The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has updated its conflict of interest policy for scientific committee members and experts to make it more balanced and transparent.
- The gist of the changes is that the level of involvement of an individual on a certain project or topic should be customized based on his or her previous professional roles and involvement.
- For declared interest, there should be a three-year cooling-off period. Whereas if there was a financial interest that no longer exists, no cooling off period is needed. And if a person has been a CEO or executive at a pharma company, there should be no involvement with drugs or policies directly related to that company—ever.
Dive Insight:
The EMA's conflict of interest policy as it relates to scientific committee members and experts reflects a sense of fair-minded pragmatism. Although the requirements for experts of scientific committees are stricter than for those participating in advisory boards and ad-hoc expert groups, and those for chairs and leading members is strictest of all, the goals of the policy are the same: To procure the most qualified experts and utilize their expertise in a way that is ethical, transparent, fair, balanced and ultimately, productive.