Roberto Magrini, CEO of Aifa (Imagoeconomica)
Regulatory activity on drugs is a topic of central importance
The Draghi government it wobbles, but in the palaces of power it is rumored that no one intends to drop it, before the fundamental transition from the nominations in the subsidiaries. With around 350 roles to be assigned to the top management of very important companies on a strategic level, this is the last real exercise of power by an executive who, if it suits him, will be gone in a year. To this dish, already very rich, is added the governance of Aifa.
L’Italian Medicines Agency – it is worth remembering – it is an autonomous body, but it certainly cannot be said that its function is not intertwined with that of politics, especially after two years of pandemic: the statutory task of Aifa isregulatory activity on drugs, a game that already in ordinary times moves enormous interests and that in the grip of Covid has really been at the top of every agenda. For some time there has been talk of a reform of the agency, which could dissolve the dualism currently existing between the Chairman of the Board of Directors (usually indicated by the Regions) and the General manager (proposed instead by the Ministry of Health), which is the legal representative of the Agency and has a vast management power, which ranges from quality control to the marketing department.
Currently, as known, these offices are respectively covered by Giorgio Palù e Nicola Magrini. The latter, chosen by Roberto Speranzais close to the center-left, while President Palù is indicated as the Lega-area manager, not only because he comes from the Veneto region of Luca Zaia. To make an organization that risks polarizing between its two souls more functional, there are those who think of unifying the two advisory committees who currently evaluate the scientific and economic aspects of each drug under examination, so as to speed up the bureaucratic processes. Palù, on the contrary, would instead be oriented to split the function of the general manager, by combining a figure trained in the administrative field with a scientific one. Both CEOs would be appointed by the ministry, but it does not seem that there is the risk of feeling in the minority: indeed, “unpacking” the skills of two managers would inevitably make the figure of the president stand out even more.