On 12 June, Belgium’s Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) warmly welcomed members of the TOPRA IN Benelux Steering Group, alongside TOPRA members, non-members and UK-based TOPRA staff to their offices in Brussels.
The network event gave the opportunity to meet FAMHP representatives, and took place the day before TOPRA’s Regulatory Careers Live (RCL) event in Brussels. This initiative was welcomed by the Agency’s CEO, Professor Hugues Malonne, and followed a similarly successful event hosted by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), prior to April’s RCL event in Dublin.
At the Brussels networking event, Valerie Nys from the FAMHP’s Strategic Realisation Office, presented the Agency’s strategic plan, with a focus on the Vaccines and ATMP Centres of Excellence, as well as an overview of the activities and initiatives to address the medicines shortages on Belgian and European markets. She also shared how the Agency will be increasing its capacity and experience over the coming years.
Sophie Bruneel, Head of the Unavailabilities Entity at the FAMHP, shared how the FAMHP, based on evolving European and Belgian legislation, has put in place processes in collaboration with other Belgian stakeholders to manage the shortage of medicines on the Belgian market.
This was followed by a presentation by Jonathan Malcorps, Expert in International Affairs and Strategy at the FAMHP, who provided insights into the initiatives taken at European level, including new legislative work surrounding the
Critical Medicines Act and Belgium’s role, especially during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2024.
This informal event had ample opportunities for questions from attendees and demonstrated constructive thinking by the Agency attendees and presenters. The location of the event had a congenial atmosphere and excellent hospitality.
Following the success of the event, the TOPRA IN Benelux Steering Group is considering further network events in Belgium that allow face-to-face interactions and is exploring options for ad hoc collaboration and synergies with other relevant professional organisations in Belgium.
The TOPRA IN Benelux Group is one of the many communities hosted by TOPRA to enable regulatory affairs professionals from all over the world to network with each other. These communities provide TOPRA members with opportunities to exchange news, views and ideas, and are segmented by region (International Networks or INs) and topic (Special Interest Networks or SPINs). Find out more about TOPRA’s communities and how to get involved
here.