The EIPG Bureau met industrial pharmacist representatives of the French Ordre des Pharmaciens at a meeting held at the premises of the Ordre in Paris. EIPG President Claude Farrugia updated the Ordre with the latest activities of EIPG, whilst Section B President Frédéric Bassi outlined the roles and responsibilities of French industrial pharmacists. Both parties expressed their satisfaction at the opportunity to update each other on their respective activities, and on the outcome of the meeting. Commenting on EIPG’s social media, EIPG President Claude Farrugia said, “This was a very productive meeting between EIPG and industrial pharmacists of the Ordre des Pharmaciens. We are eager to work together, so that EIPG can support French industrial pharmacists, and so that French industrial pharmacists can contribute to the European industrial pharmacist family.”

EPSA and EIPG are resuming their 2017 program for joint webinars with a Webinar entitled “Insight to a New Medical Device EU legislation – new challenges ahead”, delivered by Petra Lehtinen, Senior Regulatory Affairs and Quality Management Specialist at PHAME, Biocodex Oy.

The September 2017 issue of european Industrial Pharmacy, the journal of EIPG, has been published, and is now available online in the “EIPG Journal” section of the website.

The European Medicines Agency recently launched a public consultation on a draft guideline for the notification of serious breaches of Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 or the clinical trial protocol. EIPG has reviewed the document and, following feedback from its members, has submitted its comments to the EMA.

Read the EIPG Feedback on the draft guideline.

The European Industrial Pharmacists Group is preparing comments on two more documents submitted for consultation by the European Medicines Agency.

The first document is “Scientific guideline: Concept paper on an addendum on terms and concepts of pharmacogenomic features related to metabolism to the Guideline on the use of pharmacogenetic methodologies in the pharmacokinetic evaluation of medicinal products (EMA/CHMP/37646/2009), draft: consultation open“. This addendum to the guideline on the use of pharmacogenetic methodologies in the pharmacokinetic evaluation of medicinal products (EMA/CHMP/37646/2009) intends to provide clear definitions of terms used for metabolic phenotyping, as well to propose concepts regarding the translation of genotypes into the predicted metabolic phenotype, of significant importance for the correct treatment of patients. The EMA consultation deadline is the 10th October, 2017. Comments can be submitted before the 5th October to the contact persons of the EIPG Member Associations, or directly to the EIPG Vice-President Technical and Professional Development, Piero Iamartino.

The second document is “Scientific guideline: Draft reflection paper on statistical methodology for the comparative assessment of quality attributes in drug development, draft: consultation open“. The reflection paper provides current regulatory considerations regarding statistical aspects for the comparative assessment of quality attributes in the settings of pre- and post-manufacturing change, biosimilar development as well as generics development. It raises open issues from a methodological perspective addressing questions related to comparison objectives, sampling strategies, sources of variability, acceptance ranges and statistical analysis approaches to conclude on the similarity of two drug products based on quality attribute data. A main objective of the reflection paper is to establish a framework and a common language to facilitate future discussion among stakeholders and to invite comments in relation to the issues raised. The EMA consultation deadline is the 31st March, 2018. Comments can be submitted before the 1st December to the contact persons of the EIPG Member Associations, or directly to the EIPG Vice-President Technical and Professional Development, Piero Iamartino.

The European Medicines Agency have published: Scientific guideline: Draft guideline for the notification of serious breaches of Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 or the clinical trial protocol, draft: consultation open.

This guideline outlines the practical arrangements for notification of serious breaches of clinical trials authorised in the Europe Union / European Economic Area. It aims to provide advice on what should and what should not be classified as a serious breach and what must be reported. It does not include guidance related to urgent safety measures or other reporting obligations related to subject safety. More information is available on the EMA’s website.

The EMA consultation deadline is the 22nd August, 2017. Comments can be submitted before the 18th August to the contact persons of the EIPG Member Associations, or directly to the EIPG Vice-President Technical and Professional Development, Piero Iamartino.

The European Industrial Pharmacists Group (EIPG) notes with satisfaction the latest figures issued by Eurostat in regards of international trade by Member States of the European Union in medicinal and pharmaceutical products. The figures point to the pharmaceutical industry, in the area of export of medicinal products, as a key contributor to the economy of the European Union, leading other global areas in the sector. This success is due, in no small manner, to the role of professionals operating within the sector, in particular the industrial pharmacist. EIPG therefore takes this opportunity to highlight the importance of the industrial pharmacist as a key professional within the European pharmaceutical industry, and to solicit the importance of ensuring that industrial pharmacy remains a key component of pharmacy curricula throughout Europe, as well as to ensure that suitable opportunities continue to be made available for pharmacy students and graduates choosing this career path.

EIPG also notes that that the importation activity of medicinal and pharmaceutical products within the European Union is second only to that of the United States. This highlights the importance of the various measures within the Falsified Medicines Directive that have the objective of preventing falsified medicinal products from reaching patients in Europe. Here, again, industrial pharmacists are individuals whose role in the setting up of a European medicines verification system throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain must not be underestimated. EIPG, therefore, reiterates its opinion that the presence of professional associations representing industrial pharmacists within organisations responsible for the implementation of the system is important to ensure its success.

The European Industrial Pharmacists Group (EIPG) is a European association representing the national, professional organizations of pharmacists employed in the pharmaceutical or allied industries of the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or European countries having a mutual recognition agreement with the European Union on compliance control of regulated medicines.

A second summer Training School on “Medicines Shortages” (COST Action CA15105 – European Medicines Shortages Research Network – addressing supply problems to patients) addressing Pharmaceutical Supply Chains II is being organized by the Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre (IPP) and Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente (CERENA/IST), with the support of IBM Portugal and TAP Portugal. The programme stakeholder and local organiser is Prof. Joao Luis Miranda. Teachers, researchers, MSc/PhD students, post-docs, and practitioners will meet at the College of Technology and Management (ESTG/IPP), Portalegre, Portugal, 03-07 of July-2017, to discuss “Medicines Shortages” topics.

The program consists of a seminar that is open to the general public on the first day (3rd July). The seminar will present other relevant challenges to the Action, and the participants in the seminar will also gaining a complete overview of the Training School, since the main topics of the technical sessions in the following days will also be introduced.

Attendance at all five days of the school is strongly recommended for those participants interested in Medicines Shortages and in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. However, attending either the seminar, the workshops, or only one of the technical sessions is possible upon registration.

Beyond the active participation in the technical sessions, young researchers are also invited to present their works related to the Action subjects and to Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, either by Poster or in a special session for oral presentations.

A Registration Form is available online.

Additional information about the Speakers, Program or other topics of interest is available on the event website or by contacting the Portuguese Coordinator directly.

The European Commission recently launched a targeted stakeholder consultation on the revised guidelines on excipients in the labelling and package leaflet of medicinal products for human use. EIPG has reviewed the document and, following feedback from its members, has submitted its comments to the European Commission.

Read the EIPG Feedback on the targeted stakeholder consultation.

The European Medicines Agency recently launched a public consultation on draft Questions and answers on implementation of risk based prevention of cross contamination in production and ‘Guideline on setting health based exposure limits for use in risk identification in the manufacture of different medicinal products in shared facilities’ (EMA/CHMP/CVMP/SWP/169430/2012). EIPG has reviewed the document and, following feedback from its members, has submitted its comments to the EMA.

Read the EIPG Feedback on the draft questions and answers.