Adjunct Professor Pekka Kurki, MD, PhD

Member of International Advisory Board, GaBI Journal

Research Professor, Finnish Medicines Agency (Fimea), Finland
Docent/Assistant Professor of Clinical Immunology, University of Helsinki, Finland

Research Professor Pekka Kurki is a licensed physician who received his medical doctor degree in 1975 at University of Helsinki, Finland. He continued his work at the University of Helsinki to receive a PhD in Clinical Immunology in 1979. He is a Specialist of Internal Medicine since1983, with a Sub-speciality for Rheumatology since 1988, both from University of Helsinki, Finland.

Since 2009, he is Director/Research Professor at the Finnish Medicines Agency (Fimea), Finland, focus on supervision and development of the pre-authorization and marketing authorization processes. He has been Docent/Assistant Professor of Clinical Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases at the University of Helsinki, Finland from 1984.

Between 1981 and 1988, Research Professor Kurki was Resident/Consultant/Associate Head of IV Department of Internal Medicines at the outpatient clinic of Helsinki University Hospital (1981–1984). He worked as a Research Associate at Autoimmune Disease Center of Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in the US (1984–1986). He was a scientist at the Finnish Academy of Sciences at the Department of Immunology, University of Helsinki (1984–1987). From 1987–1988, he was a Resident Consultant at the rheumatology outpatient clinic of Kivelä Municipal Hospital.

From 1988 to1996, he worked at Sandoz Nordic in Finland as a clinical immunologist and at Sandoz Research Institute in the US as associate medical director responsible for planning and supervision of clinical trials.

Prior to becoming the Director/Research Professor of Fimea, Research Professor Kurki held the position of Senior Medical Officer, Head of Section and Head of Department at the National Agency of Medicines in Finland (1997–2009), responsible for assessment of medicinal products, and supervision of a section/department for marketing authorization.

Research Professor Kurki was a member of Biologicals Working Party (1998–1999), and held many positions in the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). He was a member of CHMP (2000–2004); a co-opted member (area Quality and Safety of biological products, including biotechnology products, cell therapy and gene therapy products) of the CHMP (2004–2007); Chair of the CHMP Ad hoc cell therapy working group (2002–2004); Chair of the CHMP Ad Hoc working group of xenogenic cell therapy (2001–2003); Chair of the CHMP Ad hoc working group of comparability of biotechnical products (2002–2003); Member of the European Medicines Agency (EMA)/CHMP think-tank group on innovative drug development (2004); Chair of CHMP Biosimilars Working Party (2004–2007); and Chair of the CHMP cell-based products working party (2005–2007). Since 2011, he is an alternate member of the EMA Management Board.

Research Professor Kurki is author of over hundred original publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.