(twelve votes) and Amsterdam (nine votes). These two cities tied in the subsequent vote (thirteen votes each), after which a drawing of lots identified Amsterdam as the host city of EMA. EMA staff left its London premises in March 2019 to relocate to a temporary building in Amsterdam, and by January 2020 the relocation to the permanent building in Amsterdam Zuidas district was finalised. Criticism The review process of the European Medicines Agency regarding medical issues has been criticized for its lack of transparency. In a rebuttal of an EMS review that included her work, Louise Brinth, a Danish physician, noted that "experts" reviewing data remain unnamed and seem to be bound to secrecy. Minutes are not released and diverging opinions are not reported suggesting that all the "experts" are of the same opinion. In her view the process is unscientific and undemocratic. Comparison with other regulatory agencies The EMA is roughly parallel to the drug part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but without centralisation. The timetable for product approval via the EMA's centralised procedure of 210 days compares well with the average of 500 days taken by the FDA to evaluate a product. See also Ethics Committee EudraCT EudraGMP EudraLex EUDRANET EudraPharm EudraVigilance European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) ICH Inverse benefit law Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA, UK) Qualified person Regulation of therapeutic goods Supplementary protection certificate (SPC) References Further reading External links EMA Annual Report 2018 Heads of Medicines Agencies The Rules Governing Medicinal Products in the European Union (EudraLex) Health-EU Portal official public health portal of the European Union 1993 in the European Union Agencies of the European Union European medical and health organizations Government agencies established in 1993 International organisations based in the Netherlands Medical and health organisations based in the Netherlands National agencies for drug regulation Organisations based in Amsterdam Regulators of biotechnology products Regulation in the European Union Health and the European Union