Montreal, April 5, 2024
This week, senior leaders of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) met with CEOs of biopharmaceutical companies and members of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Association (IFPMA) in Athens, Greece, birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games and modern, to discuss how the pharmaceutical industry and the anti-doping community can work even closer together to protect clean sport.
On the sidelines of the biopharmaceutical industry CEO roundtable, AMA President Witold Bańka and IFPMA President and Chairman of the IFPMA CEO Steering Committee Dr. Albert Bourla, who is also President and CEO of Pfizer, signed a Letter of Intent (in English), which builds on previous memorandums of understanding concluded by the two organizations in 2010 et 2020. Also present were WADA Vice President Yang Yang, WADA Director General Olivier Niggli and WADA Senior Director of Science and Medicine Professor Olivier Rabin.
“We are very pleased to strengthen our collaboration with IFPMA in protecting clean sport,” said Mr. Bańka. Close collaboration with the biopharmaceutical industry remains of paramount importance in the fight against doping. Early identification of new compounds with doping potential allows us to learn more about them and develop accurate detection methods even before these compounds become commercially available. The signing of this letter of intent strengthens our already strong partnership. The clean sport movement relies on cooperation between multiple stakeholders for the benefit of athletes. We have seen tangible and positive results from these collaborations, but there is so much more we can do and on a larger scale.
“As I acknowledged in my remarks this week, the biopharmaceutical industry has a unique opportunity to transform the world for the better through sport. The resources and expertise available in this area are game-changers in the world of anti-doping, and in doing so, are changing our society for the better. »
“The safe and appropriate use of pharmaceuticals is extremely important to our industry,” said Dr. Bourla. With the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games just months away, I am delighted that the IFPMA and WADA have been able to strengthen their long-standing partnership to combat doping in sport. The values of respect and fair play are at the heart of the Olympic spirit, and we want to do everything in our power to protect elite and amateur athletes from anything that undermines the integrity of the science and sport. »
WADA and IFPMA reiterated their intention to collaborate even more closely on several aspects, in order to offer a clean sport to athletes, in particular:
- Regular exchange of information on substances likely to cause doping;
- The continued strengthening of the therapeutic use authorization program to ensure that it remains effective and robust;
- Identifying and reducing the distribution of falsified medicines;
- And by co-organizing the International Conference on the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Fight against Doping, as was done in Paris (2012) and Tokyo (2015)
