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Post-Authorization Stage of Product Cycle
Dr. Nancy Agens Head
Technical Operations Pepgra
Sales.cropepgra.com
I. WHAT IS PRODUCT CYCLE
In pharmaceutical industry product
cycle consists of all processes from drug
discovery to launch to access which is
closely monitored by regulatory bodies
like European Medicines Agency EMA
for European Union EU and Food and
Drug Administration FDA for United
States US.
The various stages include: -
1. Discovery and development.
2. Preclinical research.
3. Clinical research with 3 phases.
4. Regulatory body review.
5. Post-authorization / Post-market
monitoring.
II. STAGE OF POST-AUTHORIZATION
Drug efficacy and safety is studied
extensively during clinical trials however
this is still inadequate and a continued
study on the same is needed from the
users. This is done by feedback on the
same from the end users in the market
once the drug is introduced. This decides
the life of the drug in the pharmaceutical
market.
III. UNITED STATES-FOOD AND
DRUG ADMINISTRATION US-FDA
The US-FDA gives detailed guidelines on
the various aspects of drug development
process including post-market drug safety
monitoring.
The following aspects are covered: -
Supplemental applications – A new
application is needed if there is
significant difference from the new
drug application NDA submitted
previously. Changes in formulation
dosage must be first approved by FDA.
Investigational new drugs INDs for
marketed drugs- If pharmaceutical
company wants to develop an
approved drug for further use like
different mode of administration or
alternative use it needs to do it under
IND.
Manufacturer inspections- Planned or
surprise inspections and audits are
performed by FDA of the
manufacturing plants both in US and
abroad. Inspection may be routine or
triggered by a complaint or problem.
FDA has authority to shut down a plant
if found grossly non-compliant.
Drug advertising- FDA regulates drug
advertising protocols. Advertising of
unapproved products is not allowed.
Advertising should be truthful about
the performance efficacy and safety of
the drug. Promotional labelling which
involves promotional material to
prescribing physicians should be
accompanied by prescribing
information.
Generic drugs- Generic manufacturers
against originators are not involved in
drug research and discovery. They are
involved with manufacturing drugs
that are already discovered post expiry
of the ten-year patency period. Generic
drug should have the same active
substances as the reference medicine
and is used in the same doses to treat
same diseases. Inactive ingredients
need not be the same and so side-
effects may differ and that should be
mentioned clearly. Generic drugs must
conduct only bio-equivalence studies
and file abbreviated NDA. Medical
device consulting services provide help
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drug manufacturers get pre-market
approvals.
Reporting problems- FDA has
following channels to enable health
professionals manufacturers and
consumers to report problems. E.g.
MedWatch is one such gateway for
medical products and Medical Product
Safety Network MedSun is focussed
on medical devices.
Active surveillance- Under the Sentinel
Initiative to expand and hasten the
network of monitoring FDA will use
information from various sources like
insurance claims health record
databases and registries to add to the
post market safety survey process.
IV. EUROPEAN UNION
European Medicines Agency EMA gives
elaborate scientific and regulatory
guidelines including pharmacovigilance to
pharmaceutical companies for those
products approved in Europe.
Post-authorisation safety studies
PASS- Pharmacovigilance risk
assessment committee PRAC is
responsible for assessing the protocols
and results which could be in the form
of clinical trials or non-interventional
studies.
Periodic safety update report PSUR
are pharmacovigilance documents that
provide risk-benefit assessment of
medicinal product. Submission
requirements of PSUR are elaborated
by the EMA and cumulative
information is on risks and benefits is
then assessed.
Risk management plan RMP – This
along with good pharmcovigilance
practices provides information to
Marketing managers about the
regulatory aspects regarding risk
management lifecycle.
Since 2012 all post-authorisation
studies PAS are required to be
published in EU-PAS register and is
under European Network of Centres
for Pharmacoepidemiology and
Pharmacovigilance ENCePP.
Analysing data from ENCePP
regarding EMA requested PAS is used
in better designing of PAS for future
studies.
V. CURRENT TRENDS IN EU
Primary data capture study pattern is
the most used study for risk assessment
and effectiveness. Secondary data
capture is used for drug utilisation
studies.
Limitation is that PAS covers only
certain types of patient care and not the
entire spectrum.
Limited data sets and source of data
capture is another problem faced in
Europe.
Primary data collection data collection
specifically for the study vs secondary
where data is already collected for
another purpose is the methodology of
choice that is gaining popularity as
confounding factors are fewer.
Engel and others studied PASS
protocols and assessments during 2012
to 2015 from PRAC minutes EMA
and ENCePP. They recommended to
increase the availability of data from
PASS and EMA to the EU-PAS
register. Reviewing protocols and
PRAC comments should sensitise
PASS stakeholders to put more thought
into making protocols that are in line
with pharmacokinetics
pharmacodynamics and guidelines of
regulatory body.
Farcas and others studies the risk
minimization measures RMMs from
the EU-PAS register and their
effectiveness. RMMs are related to
safety-related outcomes and their
effectiveness is important to ensure
safety of the user. Also their alignment
to the Good Pharmacovigilance
Practices guidelines recommendations
was assessed along with process and
outcome indicators. They
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recommended stricter adherence to the
recommendations to achieve
established endpoints for evaluation of
RMM effectiveness.
VI. ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR
SPECIALISED AREAS
Medical device regulatory affairs
provide different guidelines for
specialised areas like oncology
paediatric medicine and orphan
medicines.
For e.g. in case of orphan
medicines that are drugs used in the
treatment of rare conditions like
inherited errors of metabolism PASS
is important and quick access to this
information is important for effective
treatment. The significance of post-
approval drug studies lies in the
understanding that true performance
and safety of a drug can only be
understood once it is introduced in the
population and used under various
circumstances. It is important to
accurately record these events and
submit to the concerned registries to be
compiled analysed and interpreted. At
the same time ready access to this data
is needed to help physicians
understand risk-benefits and make an
informed decision. The outcomes of
studies act as inputs to analyse study
protocols and this continuous process
of feedback is needed to have a robust
system.