A Romanian expert to lead EMA’s Committee for Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC)

The National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices in Romania announced that Carmen Purdel has been elected Chair of the Committee for Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) within the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The mandate is for three years and will begin on 2 March 2026.

The appointment was also confirmed by EMA following the HMPC meeting held in January, when committee members voted for the new leadership.

Expert with long-standing experience within HMPC and academia

Carmen Purdel is a senior pharmacist, quality assessor, and associate professor at the Department of Toxicology at the “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest.

She has been a member of HMPC since 2011, initially as an alternate and later as a full member. Since 2023, she has also served as Chair of the Quality Drafting Group (QDG) within the committee.

She will replace Emiel van Galen (CBG-MEB, Netherlands), who is stepping down after serving the maximum two consecutive three-year mandates.

The role of HMPC in harmonising herbal medicinal product regulation in the EU

HMPC is the EMA committee responsible for assessing scientific data on herbal substances, preparations and combinations, with the aim of harmonising regulatory approaches across the European Union.

The committee develops scientific opinions and monographs that include:

• recommended uses of herbal substances,
• conditions for safe use,
• standardised information that national authorities can rely on when assessing marketing authorisation applications for herbal medicines.

This mechanism enables national competent authorities to refer to a single, consistent set of scientific references when evaluating herbal medicinal products.

Priorities announced for the new mandate

According to the statement published by EMA, Carmen Purdel highlighted that one of the priorities of her mandate will be exploring the structured use of real-world data to support the assessment of herbal substances and preparations.

“HMPC, through its high-quality scientific recommendations, plays a vital role in harmonising the regulation of herbal medicinal products in the EU. A key priority is to explore new initiatives for the structured use of real-world data, which offer significant opportunities to support our work in assessing herbal substances and preparations. As chair, I am committed to fostering the exchange of collective expertise within the network and ensuring accessible and transparent communication on traditional herbal medicinal products, in order to guarantee their safe and informed use on the EU market,” said Carmen Purdel.

The appointment of a Romanian expert to lead HMPC marks a strengthened Romanian presence within EMA’s scientific decision-making structures, in a field where rigorous assessment of safety and efficacy has direct impact on the European market for traditional herbal medicines.