Emer Cooke is an Irish pharmacist and Executive Director of the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ...

(EMA) since November 2020. She is also the chairperson at the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA).

Education

Cooke obtained a pharmacy degree at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, Ireland in 1982, following which she remained at Trinity to complete Master's degrees in Science and in Business Administration

Career

Starting in 1985, she held various positions in the pharmaceutical sector. From 1992 to 1995 and from 1996 to 1998 she worked for the lobbying organisation

European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) is a Brussels-based trade association and lobbying organisation, founded in 1978 and representing the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. Through its membershi ...

(EFPIA) as Manager of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs. She was Principal Administrator in the Pharmaceuticals Unit of the European Commission between 1998 and 2002, with responsibility for inspections, international activities and legislative initiatives. Ms Cooke joined EMA on 1 July 2002 where she worked first as Head of Inspections and then as Head of International Affairs. From 2021 she was appointed as Head of Regulation of Medicines and other Health Technologies with the World Health Organization (WHO).

EMA executive director

In November 2020 Cooke was appointed Executive Director of the

EMA Ema or EMA may refer to: Biology and medicine * Anti-Endomysial Antibodies test * Epithelial membrane antigen * European Medicines Agency, a European Union agency for the evaluation of medicinal products * European Medical Association, associa ...

, also taking the position of chairperson at the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) at the same time. This was in the context of the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 16 March 2021, Cooke led an EMA press conference to inform about the ongoing investigation into reports of side-effects related to the

Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine COVID-19 vaccine, for the prevention of COVID-19. It was developed in the United Kingdom by University of ...

. Cooke said the EMA remains "firmly convinced" that the vaccine benefits outweigh the risks of potential side effects. Cooke's appointment was criticized in a session of the

Austrian Parliament The Austrian Parliament () is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets i ...

on 1 April 2021 when member of parliament

Gerald Hauser Gerald Hauser (born 30 September 1961) is an Austrian politician who is a member of European Parliament, and formerly a member of the National Council, for the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Early life Hauser attended elementary school betw ...

claimed a potential

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

between her allowing the vaccine in her regulatory function, while having worked for the very same industry as a

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

in the past.

References

Notes

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Emer 1971 births Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish lobbyists Living people