EMA Committee for Advanced Therapies elects Ilona Reischl as its new Chair

26 January 2023

At its January 2023 meeting, EMA’s Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) elected Ilona Reischl from the Austrian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (AGES MEA) as its new Chair for a three-year mandate.

Before becoming Chair, Dr Reischl served as Vice-Chair of the CAT for the last six years. She replaces Dr Martina Schüssler-Lenz, from the Paul-Ehrlich Institute (PEI) in Germany.

“I consider that the CAT’s main role is to provide the expertise to ensure that safe and efficacious advanced therapy medicinal products are approved, for the benefit of the patients.” said Dr Reischl. “In my role as Chairperson, I will support the CAT to contribute to the bigger picture and to support European and international initiatives to facilitate the development, approval and access to these innovative products.”’

Dr Reischl started working with the European medicines regulatory network in 2006 as a quality assessor. She subsequently created and led the AGES MEA clinical division until 2018.

The main role of the CAT is to evaluate applications for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) submitted to EMA and draft an opinion, before the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopts a final opinion on the marketing authorisation of the medicine concerned. CAT is also responsible for classification and certification of ATMPs. ATMPs are medicines for human use that are based on genes or cells. They offer ground-breaking new opportunities for the treatment of disease and injury. The CAT’s remit includes developing guidance documents, simplifying procedures, training assessors, and organising scientific workshops.

The CAT will elect a new Vice-chair at its meeting on 16 February 2023.