Meeting highlights from the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) 26-29 October 2020
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PRAC reviews EMA guidance on risk management plan requirements for COVID-19 vaccines
EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) has reviewed the guidance developed by EMA for pharmaceutical companies on how to prepare risk management plans (RMPs) for COVID-19 vaccines.
As for any medicine, companies are required to submit an RMP for COVID-19 vaccines when they apply for a marketing authorisation. Such a plan explains how the company that markets the vaccine must monitor and report on its safety, and what measures they must put in place to manage any risks. Importantly, RMPs are continually updated throughout the lifetime of the vaccine as new information becomes available.
The guidance is for COVID-19 vaccines only and complements the already existing Guidance on the format of the risk management plan (RMP) in the EU - in integrated format (Rev. 2.0.1), which apply to all medicines.
The guidance will now be sent for adoption to EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) and will be made public once it is adopted by the CHMP.
Agenda
PRAC statistics: October-November 2020
Glossary:
- Safety signal assessments. A safety signal is information which suggests a new potentially causal association, or a new aspect of a known association between a medicine and an adverse event that warrants further investigation. Safety signals are generated from several sources such as spontaneous reports, clinical studies and the scientific literature. More information can be found under Signal management.
- Periodic safety update reports, abbreviated as PSURs, are reports prepared by the marketing authorisation holder to describe the worldwide safety experience with a medicine in a defined period after its authorisation. PSURs for medicinal products that contain the same active substance or the same combination of active substances, but have different marketing authorisations and are authorised in different EU Member States, are jointly assessed in a single assessment procedure. More information can be found under Periodic safety update reports: questions and answers.
- Risk management plans, abbreviated as RMPs, are detailed descriptions of the activities and interventions designed to identify, characterise, prevent or minimise risks relating to medicines. Companies are required to submit an RMP to EMA when applying for a marketing authorisation. RMPs are continually updated throughout the lifetime of the medicine as new information becomes available. More information is available under Risk-management plans.
- Post-authorisation safety studies, abbreviated as PASSs, are studies carried out after a medicine has been authorised to obtain further information on its safety, or to measure the effectiveness of risk-management measures. The PRAC assesses the protocols (aspects related to the organisation of a study) and the results of PASSs. More information can be found under Post-authorisation safety studies (PASS).
- Referrals are procedures used to resolve issues such as concerns over the safety or benefit-risk balance of a medicine or a class of medicines. In a referral related to safety of medicines, the PRAC is requested by a Member State or the European Commission to conduct a scientific assessment of a particular medicine or class of medicines on behalf of the EU. More information can be found under Referral procedures.
Ongoing referrals
Procedure | Status | Update |
|---|---|---|
Article-31 referral: Ifosfamide solutions | Under evaluation | PRAC continued its assessment. |