It was with some trepidation that I placed myself in the 'lions den' of the pharmaceutical industry at the annual Euromeeting of the Drug Information Association in Berlin today.
Sharing a platform to discuss the evolution of medical device regulation with Mdme Georgette Lalis of the EU Commission and David Feigal, former FDA Commissioner, proved a great opportunity to share some of the challenges of the next few years.
There was more consensus from the experts on the panel than one might expect although the role of EMEA in future regulation proved a very 'hot potato'. All agreed that we face an increasingly complex future and that we had better talk to each other about generating well-balanced solutions.
As a life-long medical technologies man I felt welcomed in this pharma forum but side conversations emphasised further the amount of work that we have to do to explain ourselves as a very distinct sector.
John Wilkinson
Chief Executive Eucomed