ICMRA celebrates 10 years of global cooperation in regulating medicinal products

This year marks ten years since the MHRA joined seven other global regulators to establish ICMRA to address the need for strong global cooperation and alignment in the regulation of medicinal products.  

ICMRA's major achievement over the past decade has been the leadership of its membership working together throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As the first member of ICMRA to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech for use in the UK, the MHRA worked together with other members to expedite and streamline development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and helped to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory processes and decision making.  

The UK's leadership on the safety monitoring of the Covid-19 vaccines was also shared via ICMRA and supported safe use round the world.

Over the past ten years, as a founding member of ICMRA, we've demonstrated how international collaboration can address major health challenges around the world.

Through strong collaboration across ICMRA, we're able to share our national knowledge to make a global impact, supporting streamlined regulatory processes and ensuring patients worldwide have access to safe and effective healthcare products."  

Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive

In the past decade, the MHRA and other ICMRA members have supported the work of regulators worldwide in significant milestones, from the fight against antimicrobial resistance to topics such as clinical trials, pharmacovigilance, regulatory convergence and reliance, innovation, real-world evidence and alignment in the global COVID-19 response.

In the coming years, the MHRA will continue to support ICMRA to address current and emerging human medicine regulatory and safety challenges, strengthen collaboration and communication and enhance the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines for the benefit of patients worldwide.  

The MHRA will be joining its fellow ICMRA members, now numbering 38, for its 10th anniversary at its annual Summit and Plenary in Melbourne on 13-16 November.

During the summit, the MHRA will be participating in discussions on key global regulatory topics and challenges including the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the evolution of clinical trials and advanced medical products based on genes, cells or tissue engineering.