Medicines Authority launches new school to support pharmaceutical sector

The Malta Medicines Authority has taken a bold step in support of the pharmaceutical industry with the launch of an in-house academy aimed at fostering an improved professional education environment for a sector that is central to Malta’s drive for higher value added production.

The Academy for Excellence and Innovation in Patient-Centred Regulatory Sciences, also known as the Malta Medicines Authority Academy, or the MMA Academy for short, aims to invite stakeholder involvement to further identify educational needs for the development of programmes that meet emerging needs and expectations.

In March, Medicines Authority chief Anthony Serracino Inglott told BusinessNow.mt that a lack of highly skilled human resources is the “only bottleneck” to the pharmaceutical sector’s continued growth.

“It’s not a question of price, or of work, but of human resources,” he said, adding that the situation is likely to aggravate as the industry poaches top talent from within itself with the promise of higher salaries.

Professor Serracino Inglott, who serves as both Chairman and CEO of the Medicines Authority, mentioned the Academy will offer an opportunity for high-level networking, exchange of knowledge and best practices, strengthen national and international collaborations, and advance learning in innovative areas of regulatory sciences.

He was speaking on Monday at the launch of the MMA Academy’s first accredited course, the Award in Good Manufacturing Practice.

The programme is aimed at individuals involved in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), including quality control and assurance, validation, production and manufacturing, regulatory affairs, and the management of pharmaceutical companies.

The Award is recognised by the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) as Level 5 on the Maltese Qualifications Framework.

The Academy was awarded its status as a Higher Education Institution on 23rd April 2021.

In his speech, Parliamentary Secretary for Consumer Rights and Public Cleansing Deo Debattista emphasised this important milestone in the recognised work of the Medicines Authority, which serves to expose the impetus, the vision, and commitment to excellence in the advanced sciences.

“As a licensed institution, the Academy of the Medicines Authority will continue to design and deliver programmes that include the pertinent elements of innovation, optimisation and accreditation,” Parliamentary Secretary Debattista said.