The International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) has reported that “significant milestones” were reached over the past year in the adoption of guidelines on residual solvent testing, carcinogenicity testing, and specifications for submitting applications in the electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD).   ICH made this 10 June announcement following a virtual meeting of the ICH Assembly. During the meeting, the ICH Assembly adopted several guidelines for Step 4 of t...

This article outlines the status of regulation for software as medical device (SaMD) in China, with particular focus on medical software using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The market approval pathways are reviewed, and key sticking points discussed. Recent regulatory updates in this fast-moving area are presented, together with various product approval examples.   China’s medical software regulatory framework The term “medical device” is defined widely ...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance to help manufacturers implement the International Council for Harmonization’s (ICH) Q12 guideline on postapproval changes by explaining how manufacturers can submit established conditions (ECs) for new drug applications (NDAs) and prior approval supplements (PASs). It also reconciles ICH post-approval changes classification categories with FDA supplement categories.   A Federal Register announcement ...

Regulators are increasingly interested in developing model-informed drug development (MIDD) programs, but some barriers still impede their more widespread adoption.   Among these is a lack of common understanding of MIDD between technical and non-technical experts, asserted Scott Marshall, executive director for Pfizer Research and Development in the UK, in a 15 May update on the progress being made by an International Council for Harmonization (ICH) discussion group o...

The Vietnamese health ministry has met with the World Health Organization (WHO) to discuss the transfer of the technology needed to manufacture mRNA vaccines in the country.   Vietnam received a shipment of 811,200 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford via the COVAX Facility at the start of last month. Around 900,000 people have now received a vaccine, but the supply of doses remains a constraint on the pace of the rollou...

Academic centers should establish risk management programs to successfully commercialize cell and gene therapy products and to be a viable partner with contract research organizations (CROs) and manufacturers in developing these therapies.   So asserted Lutz Uharek, a professor of internal medicine and founder and CEO of Xencura, at RAPS Euro Convergence 2021 on 12 May in discussing some of the challenges and opportunities for academic centers in developing cell and ge...

The International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) recently announced a new draft guideline that proposes a “weight of evidence” approach to inform whether a two-year rat study would add value in evaluating a drug’s carcinogenic risks.   The proposed guideline provides more detailed guidance for drug developers who are considering whether rodent studies are needed to assess carcinogenicity. The ICH S1B(R1) addendum, once adopted, should be used in conjunction with the I...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 11 May made available an International Council for Harmonisation’s (ICH) guideline on postapproval changes for drug products and issued four other final ICH documents and one draft guidance.   The ICH Q12 guideline aims to facilitate the management of postapproval chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) changes for new and marketed pharmaceuticals and drug substances and is the same as the version endorsed by ICH as a ...

The International Council for Harmonization (ICH) recently announced that its guideline establishing new permitted daily exposures (PDEs) for three residual solvents had reached Step 4, meaning the guideline can now be implemented by regulators.   The ICH Q3C(R8) guideline has been revised to include permitted daily exposure (PDE) levels for 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MTHF), cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA). The PDE for 2-methyletrahydro...

The International Council for Harmonization (ICH) announced on 29 April the release of its first set of data maps with SNOMED International that facilitates the exchange of adverse event reports and other important epidemiologic information between regulators and researchers.   This release of the maps is the first deliverable of an agreement between SNOMED International and ICH that aims to promote drug safety. The ICH Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (...

The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) has made available a draft version of its updated principles for good clinical practice. The principles are to be considered a “work-in-progress,” wrote ICH in announcing the availability of the updates, which are still in development by the ICH’s E6(R3) expert working group.   “The principles are interdependent and should be considered in their totality to assure ethical trial conduct, participant safety, and reliabl...

Welcome to the inaugural issue of RF Quarterly featuring original, thematically developed content by regulatory experts addressing key areas and emerging issues in the global regulatory landscape. RF Quarterly is a member-exclusive addition to the regular monthly  Regulatory Focus  feature articles and replaces the former quarterly article series. The theme for this issue is Global Clinical Trials.   Clinical trials are an essential component of pharmaceutical re...