The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday kicked off operations at its temporary premises at the Spark building in Amsterdam Sloterdijk after moving out of its Canary Wharf office in London on 1 March.   EMA says it is also working with Dutch authorities to finish readying its temporary premises ahead of 30 March, when the agency’s seat officially switches from London to Amsterdam.   “By Monday 18 March, when EMA will be settled in the Spark building, close to ...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday announced that going forward, parallel distributors will be required to use its recently launched secure online portal, known as Iris, to manage and submit parallel distribution notifications.   Background   Parallel distribution, also known as re-exportation, is a process by which companies in the EU distribute centrally authorized medicines between member states, independent of their marketing authorization holder (...

The European Commission (EC), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Heads of Medicines Agency (HMA) on Thursday launched a six-month public consultation on the draft key principles that will form the basis for creating electronic product information (ePI) for medicines in the EU. Derived from conversations with EMA, EC, HMA and various stakeholders, the draft key principles explain how ePI, which includes the package leaflet for patients and the summary of product...

The European Commission on Tuesday launched a targeted consultation to provide input on a revision of its guideline on the content and format of applications for orphan drug designation, as well as the transfer of designations between sponsors.   "The comments received will be taken into account by the European Commission in the finalization of the guideline on the format and content of application for designation as orphan medicinal products and on the transfer of des...

The European Commission (EC) on Monday released a report on pharmaceutical competition enforcement activities by the Commission and EU member states' national competition authorities from 2009 to 2017.   The 46-page report was put together in response to concerns voiced by the European Council and Parliament in 2016 and 2017 regarding anticompetitive practices within the pharmaceutical sector, such as tactics to delay generic competition, pay-for-delay arrangements...

The European Commission recently released an updated document setting out nine new and one revised frequently asked questions and answers on the implementation of the rules on the safety features for medicinal products for human use. Building off a previous update in November , five of the new questions deal with general issues, like whether medicinal products can carry more than one batch number, or whether during the transitional period manufacturers located in the E...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday released recommendations from its European network of pediatric research (Enpr)-EMA working group on opportunities during various stages of development to consult with pediatric research groups.   “Enpr-EMA suggests that all companies consider using these opportunities in a spirit of shared learning about the best way to collaborate during [pediatric investigation plan] planning,” EMA writes, noting that companies can benef...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced Monday low levels of a probable human carcinogen have been detected in a third sartan made the second India-based company—Aurobindo Pharma—to have been linked to the international valsartan scandal.   The notice follows on the heels of the EMA’s decision to extend its review to include medicines containing an additional four sartans, with the one impacted by the suspension of Aurobindo Pharma’s European certificate of s...

As part of the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) alignment with the inflation rate, the agency announced on Tuesday that general, non-pharmacovigilance for applicants and marketing authorization holders are increasing by 1.7% on 1 April 2018. “All applications received by 31 March will be charged the current fee and reduction rates. Applications received after that date will be charged the adjusted fees,” EMA said. “For scientific advice and protocol assistance, the cut...

Welcome to our European Regulatory Roundup, our weekly overview of the top EU regulatory news. Swissmedic Updates Biosimilar Guidance to Allow Comparators of US Origin The Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) has liberalized its rules on the comparators used in biosimilar clinical trials. Swissmedic is now allowing biosimilar developers to use comparators sourced from the United States. That marks a change in the policy Swissmedic established whe...

Welcome to our European Regulatory Roundup, our weekly overview of the top EU regulatory news. Commission Creates Roadmap for Evaluation of Pediatric Rare Disease Legislation The European Commission has created a roadmap for evaluating legislation covering pediatric rare diseases. Officials are embarking on the nearly two-year evaluation to understand why regulations on pediatric and orphan medicines have failed to translate into the hoped-for medical advances. ...

Welcome to our European Regulatory Roundup, our weekly overview of the top EU regulatory news. New Calculation Puts EMA’s Ongoing London Rent Bill at €448M The European Medicines Agency (EMA) faces a €448 million ($531 million) bill for the remaining years on its London rental contract. That new calculation of the cost of EMA’s failure to put a break clause into the contract is notably more than the €348 million estimate suggested by the European Parliament earl...