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The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) has re-elected Dr Christian Schneider as its chair for a second three-year term.
Dr Schneider, from the National Board of Health, Denmark, has been the chair of the CAT since its formation in 2009.
The Committee voted for his re-election by majority yesterday, during its March plenary meeting.
The Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) is a multidisciplinary committee, gathering together some of the best available experts in Europe to assess the quality, safety and efficacy of advanced-therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). The Committee follows scientific developments in the field.
According to the Committee, Advanced Therapies are ‘innovative, regenerative therapies which combine aspects of medicine, cell biology, science and engineering for the purpose of regenerating, repairing or replacing damaged tissues or cells’.
The Human Tissue Authority says on its website that an ATMP is defined as either: a gene therapy ‘medicinal product’; a somatic cell therapy ‘medicinal product’; or a tissue engineered product – a product that: contains or consists of cells or tissues that have either been subject to “substantial manipulation” or that are not intended to be used for the same essential function(s) in the recipient as in the donor; and is presented as having properties for preventing or treating disease in patients.
Election of the Committee’s vice-chair was postponed to April, as the Committee could not reach a majority on any of the three candidates.
The CAT is responsible for assessing the quality, safety and efficacy of advanced-therapy medicines and following scientific developments in the field.
Its chair and vice-chair are elected from its members for a term of three years, which may be renewed once.
