The European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have signed a working arrangement, which aims to enhance co-operation and mutual consultation between the two Agencies on areas of common interest. The new arrangement, which came into force in December 2010, outlines a number of initiatives to ensure that the two Agencies make best use of their resources while avoiding duplication of effort and overlaps in their activities. It includes:
- the exchange of information on vaccines, antimicrobial resistance and antiviral medicines;
- monitoring the benefit-risk balance of vaccines;
- collaboration on 'substances of human origin', such as the use of human tissue or cells in medicines;
- participation in meetings and joint projects.
The ECDC is a European Union Agency based in Stockholm, Sweden, whose mission is to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health posed by infectious diseases.
The European Medicines Agency has been working with the ECDC for a number of years, notably during the 2009 (H1N1) influenza pandemic. The new working arrangement builds on the existing collaboration between the Agencies.