EMA Leadership: Mr. Rasi Goes to London

From out of the mists of confusion created by the European Medicines Agency’s initial ineptitude in seeking a new head – its first job advert in German was wrongly directed at physicists and not physicians – an apparent savior has charged: Guido Rasi, current Director General of the Italian medicines agency, AIFA. The reaction of delegates at the OTC-focused AESGP meeting in Rome (where this blogger is currently reporting for "The Tan Sheet") to his nomination as EMA's next Executive Director is one of relief. Rasi, it appears, is whiter than white.

Unlike some of his AIFA predecessors, perhaps. Rasi's appointment to the top position of AIFA in 2008 came after its previous head, Nello Martini, was removed after being charged with “culpable disaster” (he was indeed acquitted in 2010). Martini's alleged crime, as deemed by public prosecutors at the time, was to have delayed the updating of pharmaceutical packaging and labeling where in fact a brief rewording of the documentation would have been appropriate. At the time, this resulted in delays to access and greatly angered the pharmaceutical industry.

But worse still were the crimes of Duilio Poggiolini, another former head of the Italian committee for drug registration, a forerunner of AIFA, who was accused of amassing a fortune in the region of CHF15 billion ($18 billion). The story goes that when police lifted floorboards in his house, they found underneath millions of Liras worth of gold bullion. (Lira was the pre-Euro Italian currency, for those of you with shorter memories).

And so Rasi was brought in to balance the ship and restore credibility to the medicines authority. An academic and physician by profession – until his AIFA appointment, he held a series of high-profile posts at various research institutes in Rome – he was credited with speeding up the drug registration process and thereby patient access.

His outstanding qualities in the eyes of his Italian colleagues, in addition to his acknowledged management skills, are honesty and trustworthiness. (Rare qualities indeed in anyone anywhere near the top of any multinational organization, let alone one whose shortened name has "As" and "Fs" in it..) Pharma industry commentators have already claimed that these qualities are growing in importance at EMA, following its ticking off by the European Ombudsman in June last year for a lack of transparency, and the questionable departure of its last Executive Director, Thomas Lönngren, to join the European regulatory and market access business the NDA Group. This move was seen as raising conflict of interest issues by many in industry, political circles and public interest groups.

The European Commission may have found a man to set the EMA’s house in order, but also one who will toe the line. The word in pharma circles is that he can be told to do things, but that he will then do them his own way.

Rasi's relatively short experience within the regulatory world (he's been chief of AIFA only since 2008, though on the board since 2004) may be an advantage, say some, as he comes without the baggage of a long-serving regulator. AIFA isn't a high profile agency within Europe, either (Italy is rarely used as a reference member state for decentralized approvals, for example). It does have a strong leaning towards risk-sharing deals, however-- which may prove significant.

Mr Rasi will go before a hearing of the European Parliament's committee on environment, public health and food safety on July 13, and his nomination will have to be approved by Parliament as well.

-- Faraz Kermani