Endorsement

If John Dalli is perceived by too many anti-industry forces as a pro-industry Trojan horse at the very heart of EU health policy, he may not win the endorsement he needs from the European Parliament says Reflector, Pharm Exec Europe’s Brussels correspondent:

John Dalli, the little-known nominee for the new post, may be about to prove the industry fears unfounded. The minister from Malta, who is due to take office in the new year, has indicated a strong pro-industry line in his first official utterances.

In a letter to the European Parliament, he makes clear that one of his priorities will be “to make affordable, safe and efficacious medicines available to patients across the EU.” Integrating pharmaceuticals into public health “requires careful management,” he says, and “we must strive to reinvigorate this sector through innovation and enhancing its economic competitiveness.”..

But Dalli is not yet a shoo-in. As a member of the centre-right European People’s Party, he can expect support from the centre-right majority in the parliament. But there was wide parliamentary backing for putting pharmaceuticals into the health commissioner’s portfolio, and the intention was not to make life easier for drug firms. Nor do the patient groups and health activists that have long lobbied for this change expect to see the switch subverted by the new man in charge.

If Dalli is perceived by too many anti-industry forces as a pro-industry Trojan horse at the very heart of EU health policy, he may not win the endorsement he needs from the parliament, when he faces MEPs in January before a crucial vote on the new Commission. This should make the parliament’s routine hearings of commissioners-designate just a little bit more interesting than normal...