Jeanne Fabre

This Practice Note provides an overview of the EU protection mechanisms and incentives for medicinal products, known as pharmaceutical incentives. They include the supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), regulatory data protection and market protection, market exclusivity for orphan medicinal products and the incentives for paediatric medicines. This Practice Note also discusses how the pharmaceutical incentives interact in practice and the proposals for a review of their regime.

This Practice Note deals with pharmacovigilance. It sets out the EU and UK regulatory framework and discusses the role of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), EudraVigilance and the guidelines on good pharmacovigilance practices (GVPs). It then takes a more detailed look at the pharmacovigilance processes and requirements set out in the GVP modules, including: how to establish a pharmacovigilance system, the qualified person responsible for pharmacovigilance (QPPV), the pharmacovigilance system master file (PSMF), pharmacovigilance inspections, pharmacovigilance audits, periodic safety update reports (PSURs), and post-authorisation safety studies (PASS). The Practice Note then considers non-compliance with pharmacovigilance requirements, data protection considerations, and outsourcing pharmacovigilance activities. Finally, it discusses pharmacovigilance in the UK and the role of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).