Commentary on the European Medicines Agency's extended mandate: Protecting public health in times of crisis and improving availability of medicines and medical devices.

IMPROVING AVAILABILITY OF MEDICINES AND MEDICAL DEVICES Shortages of medicines have been a problem in the EU and globally long before the pandemic. Moreover, EMA and ETF members have contributed to scientific and regulatory initiatives by EU bodies such as the directorate-general of the European Commission, the HERA and the EU member states to purchase and use available medicines. With the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2019, the European Union (EU) was confronted with unexpected challenges on many fronts. Finally, the high number of medicines developed and assessed for COVID-19 as opposed to previous emergencies, as well as the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, have clearly highlighted the need for the EU network to become more agile and to better use available resources in Europe. [Extracted from the article]