ECCMID 2020 moves online

After very careful deliberation and consideration, the ESCMID leadership has decided to cancel the on-site part of this year´s ECCMID in Paris and to proceed with the preparation of a complete online ECCMID 2020.

The reason for this decision is of course the COVID-19 outbreak which increasingly involves travel restrictions and reduced travel availability in many  parts of the world, an increasing pressure for ID/CM professionals to remain available at their workplace, the uncertainties surrounding the possibility of holding ECCMID physically in France given the recently aggravated ban on public gatherings issued by French authorities, and last but not least the health and safety of our members and delegates.

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ESCMID Study Group Elections

IMPORTANT EMA COMMUNICATION – COVID-19:
developers of medicines or vaccines to benefit from free scientific advice

EMA provides full fee waivers for scientific advice applications from developers of potential therapeutics or vaccines against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Developers of potential therapeutics or vaccines against COVID-19 are invited to contact the Agency as soon as possible with information about their proposed development, by emailing 2019-ncov@ema.europa.eu. In a first round of discussions, EMA can provide preliminary informal comments and feedback on the development. This will then allow the Agency to identify the products which are mature enough to benefit from fast-track scientific advice, to guarantee best use of this tool.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with this fast-track scientific advice, the Agency can give developers prompt guidance and direction on the best methods and study designs to generate robust information on how well a medicine or vaccine works and how safe it is.

EMA is actively supporting the World Health Organization’s (WHO) activities on the prioritisation and analysis of available evidence. Most potential therapeutics initially identified in this context are repurposed agents (i.e. medicinal products already authorised for another purpose) or investigational agents that are or will be investigated for treatment and in some cases for prophylaxis against the disease. EMA’s priority is to accelerate the approval of safe and effective therapeutic candidates to treat people infected by the virus as soon as possible.

For more information and more related content please click here.

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EITaF Mailing list: Subscribe to receive COVID-19 outbreak news in your inbox!

Did you know that you can now receive email alerts every time that a new piece of EITaF Outbreak News is published – EITaF is the official ESCMID source for news about the current COVID-19 outbreak.

If you log in to your ESCMID account using your ESCMID login credentials and choose the link ‘Newsletter and Mailing List’ in the right-hand column, You can opt-in to receiving EITaF news alerts.

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EMA communication: Addressing the potential impact of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on medicines supply in the EU

The EU (EMA, the European Commission and national competent authorities in the Member States) have organised the first meeting of the EU Executive Steering Group on shortages of medicines caused by major events to discuss measures aimed at addressing the impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 on the supply of medicines in the EU. The mandate of this group is to provide strategic leadership for urgent and coordinated action within the EU in case a crisis caused by major events, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, risks impacting the supply of medicinal products for human and veterinary use.

In the context of COVID-19, the group will identify and coordinate EU-wide actions to protect patients when medicines in the EU are at risk of supply shortage, e.g. due to a temporary lockdown of manufacturing sites in areas affected by COVID-19 or travel restrictions impacting shipment.

For more information on the EU Executive Steering Group and the actions already taken, please click here.

For more information on the European regulatory system for medicines, please click here (brochure available in all languages).

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CMI highlight: Antifungal susceptibility testing in Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus infections: are the MICs Useful for clinicians?

Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are mainly caused by Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus species and represent a major clinical concern in terms of morbidity and mortality. Susceptibility testing in daily clinical practice has become the standard of care in many institutions, mainly because the in vitro resistance to antifungals is increasingly reported. In this article, Bassetti et al. present an overview of the current antifungal resistance trends and give a critical appraisal of the impact of MICs on the clinical outcome of patients with IFI.

The authors conclude that resistant fungal pathogens appear to be increasing in frequency, especially in medical centres attending patients with complex underlying disease, such as immunocompromised patients. This observation, along with the highly virulent organisms and poor outcomes (especially when an adequate antifungal treatment is delayed or not given), suggest the need of routine antifungal susceptibility testing and its adequate interpretation in patients with IFI.

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