COVID-19
Between 2020 and 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). During that period, ICMRA acted as a forum to support strategic coordination and international cooperation among global medicine regulatory authorities.
The aim of the activities was to expedite and streamline the development, authorisation and availability of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines worldwide and to cooperate on the assessment of their safety. ICMRA members also worked towards increasing the efficiency of regulatory processes and decision making.
The WHO declared in May 2023 that COVID-19 no longer constituted a public health emergency of international concern. Instead, it was deemed an established and ongoing health issue which remains a global health threat. ICMRA is fully committed to coordinating a global response to future challenges and to ensure that new or adapted vaccines and therapeutics can be made available as needed and that their safety is ensured.
ICMRA achievements during the COVID-19 pandemic
ICMRA pledges and statements related to COVID-19
* Available in multiple languages
COVID-19 meetings and workshops
During the pandemic, ICMRA members held a series of initially bi-weekly and later monthly strategic meetings (COVID-19 Policy Teleconferences) to discuss international alignment on COVID-19 policies.
These also focused on:
- pragmatic approaches to COVID-19 response
- regulatory flexibility in the context of the medical emergency
- extraordinary measures applied to address common challenges during the pandemic
- regulatory considerations related to COVID-19 clinical trial management
- prevention/mitigation of supply issues.
Between 2020 and 2023, ICMRA also held international regulatory workshops on important topics to allow for in-depth discussions and to agree on common approaches. In addition to delegates representing more than 30 medicines regulatory authorities globally, participants include experts from the World Health Organization and the European Commission.
Calendar of meetings and workshops
| Date | Event | More information |
|---|---|---|
| 26-27 February 2024 | ICMRA/WHO COVID-19 vaccines strain update workshop | Meeting report |
| 26 February 2024 | ICMRA meeting: COVID-19 Real World Evidence and Observational studies | Meeting report |
| 11 September 2023 | ICMRA meeting: COVID-19 Real World Evidence and Observational studies | Meeting report |
| 8 May 2023 | ICMRA COVID-19 Omicron variant workshop | Meeting report |
| 30 June 2022 | ICMRA COVID-19 Virus Variants Workshop | Meeting report |
| 20 May 2022 | International regulatory workshop on observational studies and real-world data | Meeting report |
| 12 January 2022 | ICMRA COVID-19 Omicron Variant Workshop | Meeting report |
| 7-8 July 2021 | ICMRA workshop on enabling manufacturing capacity in the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 24 June 2021 | ICMRA COVID-19 Virus Variants Workshop | Presentations |
| 10 May 2021 | International regulatory workshop on observational studies and real-world data | Meeting report |
| 10 February 2021 | ICMRA COVID-19 Virus Variants Workshop | Meeting report |
| 9 February 2021 | ICMRA Pregnancy and Lactation Workshop | Meeting report |
| 25 January 2021 | International regulatory workshop on observational studies and real-world data | Meeting report |
| 13 January 2021 | ICMRA Vaccine Safety Collaboration Workshop | Meeting report |
| 13 October 2020 | International regulatory workshop on observational studies and real-world data | Strengthening global collaboration on COVID-19 real-world evidence and observational studies |
| 22 July 2020 | International regulatory workshop on observational studies and real-world data | Global regulatory workshop on COVID-19 real-world evidence and observational studies |
| 20 July 2020 | International regulatory workshop on development of COVID-19 treatments | Global regulatory workshop on COVID-19 therapeutics #2: agreement on acceptable endpoints for clinical trials |
| 22 June 2020 | International regulatory workshop on development of COVID-19 vaccines | Global regulators discuss data requirements for phase 3 trials of COVID-19 vaccines International regulators align positions on phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials |
| 12 June 2020 | The COVID-19 Policy Teleconference | Meeting report |
| 27 May 2020 | The COVID-19 Policy Teleconference | Meeting report |
| 19 May 2020 | International regulatory workshop on COVID-19 real-world evidence and observational studies | Global regulators commit to cooperate on observational research in the context of COVID-19 |
| 14 May 2020 | The COVID-19 Policy Teleconference | Meeting report |
| 30 April 2020 | The COVID-19 Policy Teleconference | Meeting report |
| 16 April 2020 | The COVID-19 Policy Teleconference | Meeting report |
| 6 April 2020 | International regulatory workshop on observational studies and real-world data | Global regulators discuss observational studies of real world data for COVID-19 medicines |
| 2 April 2020 | International regulatory workshop on development of COVID-19 treatments | Global regulators stress need for robust evidence on COVID-19 treatments |
| 18 March 2020 | International regulatory workshop on development of COVID-19 vaccines | Global regulators map out data requirements for phase 1 COVID-19 vaccine trials |