Marisa Delbò, head of the Risk Management Office at the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), was elected as the new chair of the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) at its November meeting.

Maria Delbò was previously vice-chair of the HMPC (2013-2016) and also vice-chair of the HMPC Working Party on European Union Monographs and European Union List (MLWP) (2011-2016). She has expertise in a wide range of areas, having worked in research, assessment of applications and good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspections.

“In my three-year mandate, I will make sure each HMPC member has equal opportunities to contribute to our work and I will encourage open scientific debate among the Committee members in a constructive and collegial environment,” says Marisa Delbò.

HMPC is EMA’s scientific committee that is responsible for preparing the Agency's opinions on herbal medicines. Its work supports the harmonisation of procedures and provisions concerning herbal medicines in EU Member States and the integration of these products in the European regulatory framework. Among the Committee’s future tasks is streamlining the review and revision process to keep EU harmonised standards up-to-date and improve the quality of documents. The committee will also focus on the assessment of herbal combination products and non-EU traditional herbal medicines.