The search for Guido Rasi’s replacement as executive director of the EMA after a European court annulled his appointment in November could take up to six months.
The European Commission, which is responsible for running selection procedures for executive directors of EU agencies, told PMLiVE it intends to publish a vacancy notice for the role in the Official Journal very shortly.
But added that the process would be “very much impacted by the complexity of the procedure and the number of applicants”, the Commission added.
The EC will then pass its confidential shortlist of candidates for the post to the EMA’s management board, in the meantime deputy executive director Andreas Pott will take the helm on a temporary basis.
Guido Rasi’s three-year leadership of the EMA came to a premature end after the European Union Civil Service Tribunal ruled Rasi’s 2011 selection as executive director of the regulator in 2011 was invalid after a case was made against the selection procedure.
However, the EMA told PMLiVE that Rasi’s five-year contract remains in place and that its management board has asked Professor Sir Kent Woods, chair of the management board, “to explore in the coming weeks how Guido Rasi can best serve the Agency until a new executive director is appointed”.
The case was brought to court at the beginning of 2012 by Emil Hristov – a medicines regulator from Bulgaria – who appealed against the decision by the EC to omit him from the shortlist of candidates when deciding who to select as executive director.
This procedure was annulled by the court, meaning Rasi’s subsequent appointment as executive director was also annulled.
The court’s decision continued a bad month for the EMA, which is facing questions over its handling of data. European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has taken issue with the regulator over the redaction of clinical study reports (CSRs) for AbbVie’s Humira.