EMA action plan supports SMEs as drivers of innovation

SMEs represent 99% of all businesses in the European Union (EU) and provide two-thirds of total private sector employment. In the pharmaceutical sector they are a "motor of innovation" and play a major role in the development of new medicines, according to the EMA.

SMEs initiative expanded

The action plan builds on the experience gained and addresses the challenges identified by SMEs in a report published by EMA on the 10th Anniversary of the EMA’s SME initiative.
It also takes into account EMA’s new framework for collaboration with academia, which aims to strengthen its interaction with the academic world in light of its role in pharmaceutical innovation, and the new EU Innovation Network.

The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) 2016 annual report focuses on the Agency’s key achievements in the areas of medicine evaluation, support to research and development of new and innovative treatments and the safety monitoring of medicines in real life.

The plan covers four key areas: awareness of EMA’s SME initiative; training and education; supporting the development of innovative medicines; engagement with SMEs, EU partners and stakeholders.