Monthly Archives: June 2009

EMEA issue draft guidance on plasma-derived medicinal products

EMEA has issued guidance on plasma derived medicinal products. This guidance lays down the requirements of the collection of starting material, the manufacturing and the quality control of plasma derived medicinal products. Specific attention will be given to the viral safety of these products.

This is the fourth edition of the guidelines to be published, and include an update on the legal framework as well is an update on specific guidance.

Human plasma contains many proteins, extraction and purification of which are of great medicinal importance. Improvements in protein purification and molecular separation technology has made available a wide variety of products, with medicinal applications covering a large field, the therapeutic value of these products is unquestioned. However, the potential for viral transmission is well recognised, and because of the large number of donations which are pooled, a single contaminated batch of plasma drug product, with the contamination possibly originating from a single source donation, and transmit viral disease to a large number of recipients.

The prevention of such contamination is the main focus of these guidelines. They cover the whole process from the collection and testing of the starting material through quality-control manufacturing and preparation processes, a great deal of emphasis is put upon donor selection, traceability and post collection measures including look-back procedures. Process validation during manufacturing is also covered in the guidance, as well as quality control. These products have specific requirements for stability which are also covered.

This guidance is essential reading than anybody developing plasma derived therapeutic products.

If you would like more detail in this area please get in touch with Damien Bové damien.bove@idaconsultants.com

Damien Bové works as a drug development consultant (pharmaceutical or biotechnology) and regulatory consultant, we work with our clients to define a drug  development target, define a drug development strategy, define a regulatory strategy or define a commercial strategy. Our clients are generally raising funds or looking to license out their technology and we help them achieve it. If you want to know more don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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MHRA publishes guidance on the Medical Devices Directives

The MHRA has published Guidance on the EC Medical Devices Directives.

The guidance document is a comprehensive document, and covers the regulations in some detail:

  • The Medical Devices Regulations 2002
  • The Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive
  • Medical Devices Directive
  • In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive

The Guidance provides help interpreting these regulations in a number of Specific Areas:

  • Clinical Investigtions in the UK
  • Is a Clinical Investigation Required
  • Special Clinical Investigations
    • Changes in intended use
    • Comparative Studies
    • Prototype Devices
    • Clinical Investigations also submitted to the FDA of other Non-EU Regulatory Authorities
    • In-house manufactured medical devices
    • “Off-Label” use
  • Making an Application for Pre-clinical Assessment
  • Competent authority processing of the clinical investigation
  • Documentation required for all submissions
  • Clinical Investigational Plans
  • Documentation to be kept available
  • Special features of clinical trials
  • How your application will be handled by the UK-competent authority
  • Adverse event handling

The publication is detailed and covers a number of areas in detail, it is recommended reading for anybody developing a medical device.

If you would like more detail in this area please get in touch with Damien Bové damien.bove@idaconsultants.com

Damien Bové works as a drug development consultant (pharmaceutical or biotechnology) and regulatory consultant, we work with our clients to define a drug  development target, define a drug development strategy, define a regulatory strategy or define a commercial strategy. Our clients are generally raising funds or looking to license out their technology and we help them achieve it. If you want to know more don’t hesitate to get in touch.

ida consultants freestrategyconsultation 515x64 MHRA publishes guidance on the Medical Devices Directives

As you know this website is a great resourse for keeping up to date with developments and regulations, why not get our FREE monthly regulatory and market round up. You can un-subscribe at any time and we do not share your details with anybody.

EMEA Guidlines on Clinical Investigation of Medicinal Products for The Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis.

The EMEA has published guidance on the clinical evaluation of new medical products the treatment and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a chronic inflammatory disease that affects primarily sacroiliac joints and the axial skeleton. The prevalence has been estimated at between 0.1 and 1.1% of the population.

The guidance describes the patient characteristics/selection criteria that should be considered for inclusion of patients into clinical trials. This is of particular importance in order to establish the correct diagnosis, distinguish patients with AS from those suffering from other subtypes of spondyloarthritis, and appropriately assess the severity and extent of the disease at baseline.

The different domains to assess efficacy and medicinal product are described as well is the therapeutic claims that are distinguished from the regulatory perspective:

  1. improvement of symptoms and signs such as pain and stiffness or enthesopathy
  2. improvement of physical function
  3. slowing or prevention of structural damage
  4. prevention of disability

The guidance, furthermore, outlines strategies for early studies in man (does response trials) as well as therapeutic complimentary trials including acceptable primary and secondary endpoints to assess efficacy. Specific aspects of evaluation of clinical safety are also highlighted, specifically a need for long-term safety data in the treatment of this chronic disease.

If you would like more detail in this area please get in touch with Damien Bové damien.bove@idaconsultants.com

Damien Bové works as a drug development consultant (pharmaceutical or biotechnology) and regulatory consultant, we work with our clients to define a drug  development target, define a drug development strategy, define a regulatory strategy or define a commercial strategy. Our clients are generally raising funds or looking to license out their technology and we help them achieve it. If you want to know more don’t hesitate to get in touch.

ida consultants freestrategyconsultation 515x64 EMEA Guidlines on Clinical Investigation of Medicinal Products for The Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis.

As you know this website is a great resourse for keeping up to date with developments and regulations, why not get our FREE monthly regulatory and market round up. You can un-subscribe at any time and we do not share your details with anybody.