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News about GMP/cGMP

EMA: Annual Report 2022 Published and Workplan for GMDP Updated
26.05.2023

As part of the recent publication of EMA's Annual Report 2022, the 3-year work plan 2021-2023 has also been updated. The 13-page work plan has been developed with a main focus on the network strategy and the scientific regulatory strategy (RSS). The security and resilience of the supply chain is of particular importance.

EMA: Guidance for Industry to Prevent Medicine Shortages
19.05.2023

On 17 May 2023, EMA published recommendations for industry on the good practices to ensure continuity in the supply of human medicines, prevent shortages and reduce their impact. The 14-page guidance describes the various stakeholders involved in the medicine supply chain and their responsibilities and roles in the prevention and management of medicine shortages. It provides ten recommendations for marketing authorisation holders, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers to minimise the occurrence of medicine shortages and their impact.

Blog-News aus Europa
05.05.2023

On 26 April 2023, the European Commission published a 182-page proposal for the reform of the EU's pharmaceutical legislation and a 184-page proposal for the repeal of Directives 2001/83/EC and 2009/35/EC with a 103-page Annex. The proposal should pave the way for the biggest reform in more than 20 years and aims to reshape the regulation of the pharmaceutical sector.

Swissmedic: Guidance on GMP-Compliance by Foreign Manufacturers and RP Declaration
05.05.2023

The Swissmedic Guideline on GMP-Compliance by Foreign Manufacturers was published on 1.5.2023 as version 3.0. It is addressed to the holders of marketing authorisations for medicinal products from abroad or from Switzerland if these medicinal products contain active substances from foreign manufacturers.

EMA: Multi-factor Authentication for CTIS Mandatory by June
28.04.2023

From 1 June 2023 multi-factor authentication (MFA) will be introduced for user login to CTIS (Clinical Trials Information System) for both sponsors and Member States. This should significantly increase user account security.

WHO: Draft on Revised GMP for Excipients in Pharmaceutical Products
14.04.2023

This week the WHO published a draft guideline on GMP for excipients used in pharmaceutical products. With the original guideline published in 1999, a revision was overdue. Excipients play an essential role in pharmaceutical dosage forms and their impact on the quality of the finished product is considerable. The guideline is addressed to excipient manufacturers and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

EMA: GCP-Guideline on Computerised Systems and Data Integrity
14.04.2023

Last month, the EMA published the final guideline on computerised systems and data integrity in clinical trials, which will enter into force on 10 September 2023. Clinical trials are increasingly using computerised systems for data collection, which come with progressively more complex user surfaces.

EMA: Q&A on Nitrosamines Updated
06.04.2023

The European Medicines Agency EMA updated its Q&A on nitrosamines on 30 March 2023. The update amends Q&A 22 referring to the approach to control  the presence of nitrosamines exceeding the AI during CAPA implementation. It is now indicated that no variation should be submitted to implement temporary above AI (acceptable intake) limits in specifications.

Swissmedic: Equivalence with New EU MDR/IVDR Timelines
06.04.2023

The Swiss Federal Council intends to grant an extended period for the certification of medical devices in accordance with the extension of the corresponding EU regulation (we reported). This will require an amendment of the Medical Devices Ordinance (MedDO) and the Ordinance on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (IvDO). The revision of the two ordinances is planned for autumn 2023.

ICH: Publication of the Introductory Presentation on ICH Q9 (R1)
03.04.2023

The ICH published a 29-page presentation on the revision of ICH Q9 on 14 March 2023. The guideline on quality risk management was published in January 2023 (we reported) and will come into force in July 2023.

EU: Q&A on extended MDR transition
31.03.2023

The European Commission has released a 10-page Q&A document on the practical aspects of the new transitional provisions for certain medical devices and iv-medical devices. These were laid down in the Regulation (EU) 2023/607, which was published on 15 March 2023 (we reported).

EU MDR/IVDR: New Transitional Provisions Enter into Force
24.03.2023

The 6-page amending Regulations (EU) 2023/607 with new transitional provisions for certain medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 20 March 2023. It entered into force upon publication. This is intended to alleviate supply shortages of important medical devices (we reported). The regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all member states.

FDA: Definition Guidance on Drug Safety in the Supply Chain
22.03.2023

On 16 March 2023, the FDA issued its final guidance on detailed definitions around "suspect products" and "illegitimate products".

EU-MDR/IVDR: Reassessment of Notified Bodies Only Every 5 Years
17.03.2023

On 8 March 2023, the European Commission published Delegated Regulations (EU) 2023/502 and 2023/503 to extend the reassessment period for notified bodies under MDR/IVDR to five years. The new time frame has already come into force.

EC: General Political Agreement with UK on Northern Ireland Protocol
10.03.2023

The Northern Ireland question was one of the trickiest open issues in the Brexit negotiations. A general political agreement has now been reached with the so-called "Windsor Framework": The European Commission and the government of the United Kingdom have put together a comprehensive package of solutions to reconcile the movement of goods to Northern Ireland while ensuring effective protective measures for the EU's internal market. The Windsor Framework is to replace the previous Northern Ireland Protocol in the future. The legally binding adoption is pending.

FDA: ICH Q13 Guideline and Artificial Intelligence in Drug Manufacturing
06.03.2023

On 1 March 2023, the final ICH Guideline Q13 on continuous manufacturing (CM) of active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products was published by the FDA. In addition to the guidance, the agency also issued a discussion paper on AI for stakeholders' comments. With these publications, the FDA aims to facilitate the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies for the pharmaceutical industry.

EU-MDR: European Parliament Votes in Favour of New Transition Periods
03.03.2023

On 16 February 2023, the European Parliament voted positively to extend the deadline for the certification of medical devices under the EU Medical Devices Regulation (MDR). In January, the deadline extension was proposed by the European Commission to prevent massive supply shortages. Not enough Notified Bodies are available for the recertification of many medical devices, as a requirement of the MDR.

EMA: Q&A for Cannabis-Derived Medicinal Products
27.02.2023

The EMA has published a question and answer document on the regulatory requirements for the authorisation of Cannabis-derived medicinal products in the EU and the work of the Committee for Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) in relation to medicinal plant monographs. This was considered useful as those involved in the production of Cannabis products often have little experience of the EU regulatory system for medicinal products.

Swissmedic: Validity of GMP Certificates
09.02.2023

Swissmedic announced on 23 January that companies with a valid manufacturing licence for the manufacture of medicinal products can apply for a GMP certificate. The certificates do not contain a validity date, but the date of the GMP inspection.

EMA: ICH Guideline Q9 (R1) on Quality Risk Management – Step 5
09.02.2023

On February 6th, 2023, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published the first revision of the guideline "ICH Guideline Q9 (R1) on Quality Risk Management (QRM) Step 5".

The 27-page document includes "principles and examples of tools for quality risk management that can be applied to different aspects of pharmaceutical quality.“

PIC/S: Publication of New GDP Guidance Documents
03.02.2023

PIC/S has published the following two guidance documents for GDP inspectors: an ‘Aide-Memoire on the Inspection of Good Distribution Practice for Medicinal Products in the Supply Chain’ (PI 044-1) and a ‘Questions & Answers (Q&A) document regarding the PIC/S GDP Guide’ (PS/INF 22/2017).

EMA: Use of CTIS mandatory in the EU
02.02.2023

As we already reported in December 2022, the use of the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) is now obligatory in the EU.

ICH: Final Publication of Revised ICH Q9 Guideline
27.01.2023

The International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) published a revised version of its Q9 guideline on 20 January, updating the original guideline, which is now 18 years old.

USA: Transition to ISO 13485 is getting closer
26.01.2023

The US government's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has issued a timeline for harmonizing, or converting, the 21 CFR 820 with the European ISO 13485 for medical devices.

FDA: Mutual Recognition Agreement with Swissmedic
20.01.2023

On 12 January 2023, the FDA signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement between the United States and Switzerland, allowing the FDA and Swissmedic to share each other's GMP inspectional findings, which will reduce unnecessary costs and duplicative efforts.

EMA: Update on GDP-Q&As for Broker Activities
13.01.2023

The EMA added two good distribution practice (GDP) questions to its Q&A section on GMP/GDP topics in early January 2023. They should clarify how the GDP rules apply to brokers operating outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

EMA: ICH Q13 on Continuous Manufacturing Adopted
13.01.2023

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted the ICH guidance on the continuous manufacturing of drug substances and drug products which marks the Step 5 process of document adoption by the Regulatory Members of the ICH Assembly. The document was released on 6 January 2023 and will come into effect on 10 July 2023.

EMA: Clinical Trials Information System CTIS mandatory in 2023
19.12.2022

As of 31 January 2023, using the new Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) will become mandatory. CTIS serves as a single entry point of contact for the submission and assessment of clinical trial data in all EU and EEA countries. This facilitates the daily business of sponsors in the EU immensely. In the past sponsors had to submit clinical trial applications separately to competent national authorities (NCAs) and ethics committees in each European country to gain regulatory approval. Publication of the trial information is built into the system, as well.

EC: Position Paper on 'Hybrid Audits'
09.12.2022

The European Commission's Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) published a definition on ‘hybrid audits’ in early December.

The document gives notified bodies some flexibility regarding the duration of physical presence during audits under the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) and the In Vitro Diagnostic Device Regulation (IVDR).

ICH: Final Q13 Guideline on Continuous Manufacturing
02.12.2022

In Mid-November, the ICH Q13 Guideline on "Continuous Manufacturing of Drug Substances and Drug Products (Step 4)" was finally adopted during the General Assembly of the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH). With the adoption within the ICH organization, the guidelines are considered harmonized and thus represent the current state of science and technology. A concept paper for the Guideline was first submitted in November 2018.

Blog-News aus Europa
02.12.2022

With the publication of Delegated Regulation 2022/2239, the European Commission has released the revised and amended labeling requirements for unauthorized investigational and auxiliary medicinal products under the EU Clinical Trial Regulation (CTR). This eliminates the need to retroactively label the expiration date on the primary packaging of unapproved investigational products for which new stability and shelf-life data become available over time.

Access Consortium: Recognition Arrangement in GMP Inspections
18.11.2022

The Access Consortium is a collaborative initiative of like-minded, medium-sized regulators from Australia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

EMA: Concept Paper on the Revision of EU GMP Annex 11 on Computerised Systems
18.11.2022

On 16 November 2022, the European Medicines Agency EMA published a concept paper on the planned revision of Annex 11 "Computerised Systems". The reason: The existing document of the EU GMP Guideline dates back to 2011 and no longer corresponds to the state of the art in various areas or does not consider increasingly important new technologies for the GMP field, according to the EMA.

MHRA: Resumption of International GMP Inspections
11.11.2022

On 8 November 2022, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published a blog post announcing the resumption of international on-site inspections.
Important to know: Notwithstanding, the ‘expiry’ of GMP certificates issued by the MHRA will again be extended until the end of 2023.

MHRA: Implementation of British Medical Device Regulation Delayed
03.11.2022

On 25 October 2022, the UK Regulatory Agency MHRA, announced that the introduction of the future UK Medical Device Regulation will be delayed by twelve months. The intended date for introduction of the new and standalone regulation is now set for July 2024.

EMA: Updated Q&A on GMP/GDP Topics
28.10.2022

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) answers frequently asked GMP/GDP questions discussed in the GMP/GDP Inspectors Working Group in its Guidance on good manufacturing practice and good distribution practice: Questions and answers. The document is continuously revised, as last in October 2022. The answers are intended to provide additional clarification to the current EU GMP and GDP regulation.

EMA: Updated Q&A on Nitrosamines
28.10.2022

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has published a revised version 12 of its Q&A on nitrosamines for marketing authorisation holders dated 10 October 2022. The revision includes an update of Q&A 10 on the limits for nitrosamines in medicinal products and introduces a new Q&A 21 on the approach to control presence of nitrosamine while the AI is being established.

TGA: Draft guidance on boundary and combination products
20.10.2022

On 08. October 2022, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), published the draft guidance 'Boundary and combination products - medicines, medical devices, and biologicals’. The current guidance originally dates back to 2005. Since then, there have been significant changes in the regulation of therapeutic goods.

EU: New Data Quality Framework for Medicines Regulation
14.10.2022

On 10 October 2022, the EMA published a 24-pages document on data quality (DQ) framework, which is open for consultation until 18 November 2022. As the topic of data quality and data overall becomes more and more critical to regulating medicinal products, a Data Quality Framework for EU medicines regulation is a logical consequence to provide a unitary approach. Thus, the amount of data that digitalisation brings along not only opens up new possibilities, but also increasingly complex data landscapes.

ICH: The Draft Guideline Q5A(R2) Reaches Step 2
14.10.2022

On 11 October 2022, the ICH published the revised Guideline Q5A(R2) on viral safety evaluation of biotechnology products derived from cell lines of human or animal origin as Step 2 document. This guideline addresses the testing and evaluation of the viral safety of biotechnology products and explains what data should be provided in the application dossier for the marketing and registration of these products.

MHRA: Extended use of EC Decision Reliance Procedure across Great Britain
07.10.2022

On 30 September 2022 the MHRA informed that the use of the European Commission Decision Reliance Procedure (ECDRP) for Great Britain has been extended for another 12 months until 31 December 2023. The procedure allows a company to submit a product that has received approval from the EMA directly to the MHRA. The MHRA can then grant a license with a shorter review than normally conducted, relying on the EMA’s decision.

MHRA: DEKRA appointed first new UK Approved Body to certify medical devices since Brexit
07.10.2022

DEKRA Certification UK Ltd has become the first organisation after Brexit to complete the new designation process that any potential organisation must go through to become approved to certify medical devices in the UK. With this step taken it is now designated as a UK approved body to undertake assessments for general medical devices (known as Part II designation) and has joined the three current UK Approved Bodies BSI Assurance UK Ltd, SGS United Kingdom Ltd, and UL International (UK) Ltd. These three bodies had been approved before Brexit.

USP: Draft for a Cannabis Monograph
30.09.2022

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has opened a 90-day review period for their proposed Cannabis Species Inflorescence Monograph in the Herbal Medicines Compendium (HMC), a laboratory quality standards testing reference used internationally. 

EMA: Draft Quality Guidelines for Synthetic Peptides and Oligonucleotides
23.09.2022

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) plans to establish clear quality guidelines for drug companies manufacturing synthetic peptides and oligonucleotides. This week, EMA published new concept papers, explaining current requirements on impurities testing, specifications and the control of DNA-reactive chemicals either partly or fully exclude synthetic peptides and oligonucleotides.

PIC/S: Publication of Revised GMP Annex 1
23.09.2022

The revised Annex 1 to the PIC/S GMP Guide on the manufacture of sterile products has been published and will enter into force on 25 August 2023, except for point 8.123 which is postponed until 25 August 2024. The date of entry into operation is aligned with that of the revised EU Annex 1, which is identical to PIC/S Annex 1 (with some very minor editorial differences).

EC: MDR, IVDR Manual on Borderline Devices
19.09.2022

The European Borderline and Classification Working Group (BCWG), a sub-group of the Medical Device Coordination Group, has created a manual for determining whether a product is classed as a medical device under the new regulations MDR and IVDR. BCWG developed the document as part of an attempt to prevent member states from having different interpretations of the legislation.

PMDA: English Version on Procedure for Remote Inspections Revised
09.09.2022

The PMDA (Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency) published the English translation of the revised document on remote inspections, Procedure for Remote Inspection as a Part of Compliance Inspection on Drugs and Regenerative Medical Products. The document describes the specific procedure for a remote inspection and how to organize, prepare and share the necessary paperwork for remote assessment by PMDA (we reported).

EMA: Comments on Draft ICH Q2(R2) and ICH Q14 Published
09.09.2022

On 24 August 2022 the EMA (European Medicines Agency) published a 72-pages strong overview on the comments received as feedback on the draft of ICH Q2 Validation of analytical procedures along with a 54-pages PDF on comments made regarding the draft of ICH Q14 Analytical procedure development. The volume of the documents indicates the large number of comments that were submitted.

Order now: Comparative document to the final Annex 1: What's new?
Are you prepared for the possible changes? The comparison shows you where there is a need for action.
08.09.2022
Blog-News aus Europa
26.08.2022

The long-awaited final version of the new EU Annex 1 "Manufacture of Sterile Medicinal Products" was published on 25 August 2022. The deadline for entry into force is 25 August 2023. Regarding section 8.123 on freeze-drying and product transfer, the deadline for entry into force is two years from now and will thus become mandatory on 25 August 2024:

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