GMP News Drug Safety/Pharmacovigilance

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161 is adapted with regard to Article 47 (Evaluation of notifications by national competent authorities to the Commission) and Annex I (List of medicinal products that shall not bear the safety features).

During an action week coordinated by INTERPOL against illegal internet trade checks led to the discovery of very large numbers of fake and illicit drugs. Overall the operation resulted in the seizure of around 9 million medical devices and illicit pharmaceuticals.

A targeted stakeholder consultation on amendments to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 520/2012 on pharmacovigilance activities has been published on the EC website. The Regulation outlines the practical details on the performance of pharmacovigilance activities to be respected by MAHs, national competent authorities and the EMA.

The EMA supports recommendations for the use of global track & trace systems to mitigate the risk of drug shortages and fight against falsified medicines. To date, track & trace systems have been designed and implemented with a local or regional focus, without taking into account whether they can exchange information with other systems.

The HMPC adopted the final Public statement on the use of herbal medicinal products containing toxic, unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) including recommendations regarding contamination with PAs. Amongst others, it is stated that PA specifications are no longer considered necessary for essential oils.

The European Commission published Questions & Answers on 26 May 2021, the day of application of Regulation 2017/745 for medical devices. The Questions & Answers are related to the requirements and tools for the safety of medical devices, including EUDAMED.

Herbal medicinal products can be registered via the well established use approach within the EU. But what is needed for the simplified registration and how to demonstrate well established use?