Committee On Herbal Medicinal Products Elects New Chair And Vice-Chair

Main Category: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 01 Nov 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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The European Medicines Agency's Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) has re-elected Konstantin Keller (Germany) as chair and Ioanna Chinou (Greece) as new vice-chair, with three-year mandates from 31 October 2007.

Dr Keller, a pharmacist, has been director of the division of herbal, homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products at the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) since 1985. He is currently working in the department of International Pharmaceutical Affairs at the German Federal Ministry of Health. He chaired the HMPC from its launch in September 2004 and chaired the Herbal Medicinal Products Working Party (HMPWP), the predecessor of the HMPC, between 1997 and 2004.

Professor Ioanna Chinou, also a pharmacist, is associate professor of pharmacognosy and chemistry of natural products at the School of Pharmacy, University of Athens, Greece. Professor Chinou, who joined the HMPC in November 2005, is also vice-chair of the HMPC Working Party on Community Monographs and Community List (MLWP).

1. The Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) is responsible for activities aimed at assisting the harmonisation of procedures and provisions concerning herbal medicinal products laid down in EU Member States, and further integrating herbal medicinal products in the European regulatory framework. As part of these objectives, the HMPC provides EU Member States and European institutions its scientific opinion on questions relating to herbal medicinal products and establishes a draft Community list of herbal medicines and Community herbal monographs. It is composed of a chair, elected by serving HMPC members, and one member (and an alternate) nominated by each of the 27 EU Member States and by the 3 EEA-EFTA states. Up to five additional members (European experts nominated by the Member States or by the EMEA) may be co-opted to contribute additional expertise to the HMPC.

2. More information about the HMPC's role, responsibilities and composition can be found here.

http://www.emea.europa.eu