EU Joint Action project CHESSMEN has begun

The EU Joint Action project CHESSMEN was officially launched on 16 January 2023. The kick-off event was held on Friday 10 February 2023 in Rome under the Italian Medicines Agency’s (AIFA) lead.

"The number of supply problems with medicines has increased in EU countries for several years. The aim of the EU’s joint project is to harmonise EU Member State operating methods so as to reduce likelihood of supply shortages of medicines and to minimize the effects of these shortages in the future,” explains Head of Section Johanna Linnolahti, who acted as both Fimea's representative and the leader of work package 8.

"It is important that the operating methods for supply shortages caused by different background reasons are consistent in different EU Member States so that the possible impacts on patient care can also be assessed in a uniform manner. On the other hand, to also reduce disruptions with the right kind of solutions," Linnolahti continues.

CHESSMEN (Coordination and Harmonisation of the Existing Systems against Shortages of Medicines – European Network) is a Joint Action of 27 pharmaceutical regulatory authorities from a total of 22 EU/EEA countries. The aim of the project is to harmonise responses to medicine shortages between the Member States' authorities, thus reducing these shortages in Europe.

The CHESSMEN Joint Action comprises eight work packages, one of which will be led by Fimea for the next three years. In particular, Fimea's tasks in this project focus on reducing likelihood of medicine shortages and creating operating strategies aimed at minimising their impacts. The total budget of this project is EUR 10 million, 80% of which will be covered by the European Commission's EU4Health funding.

Follow the project on LinkedIn.

Fimea online news 22 July 2022: Fimea taking part in two new EU4Health Joint Actions