FDA and EMA convergence shows shared commitment to raising standards

Relations between the US and European governments are generally not at their healthiest at present, but the way that their medicines regulators are spurring each other into improving standards provides a more encouraging picture.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) were aligned in more than 90% of marketing authorizations for new drugs, according to a joint analysis comparing 107 decisions between 2014 and 2016.

This is the first analysis by the EMA and the FDA that compares the agencies’ decisions related to marketing authorisations.