Amendments to the pharmacovigilance legislation: new notification requirements for marketing-authorisation holders

Uit't persbericht: Marketing-authorisation holders of human medicines will now have to declare the reasons that lead them to take any of the actions below to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), in accordance with the amendments to the 2010 pharmacovigilance legislation of the European Union (EU):

• temporary or permanent marketing cessation or suspension of marketing of a medicine;
• withdrawal of a medicine from the market;
• a request to withdraw a marketing authorisation;
• the intention not to apply for the renewal of a marketing authorisation

These amendments were adopted in October 2012. The new provisions apply to centrally authorised medicines from 5 June 2013, and will apply to nationally authorised medicines from 28 October 2013.

For nationally authorised medicines, the amendments to the legislation mean that MAHs will need to notify the EMA, in addition to the Member State where the medicine is authorised, when any of these actions are taken on the basis of any of the grounds listed above. These obligations will also apply when action based on these grounds is undertaken in a third country (a country outside the European Economic Area). The EMA is working together with the Member States to define a common notification process for centrally and nationally authorised medicines. The EMA’s guidance documents will be updated to describe these new requirements and processes by 28 October 2013.