Abbreviation | EDQM |
---|---|
Predecessor |
|
Formation | 1964 |
Type | Administrative entity of the Council of Europe |
Purpose | Protection of public health |
Headquarters | Strasbourg, France |
Director | Petra Dörr |
Staff | Over 340 (as of February 2020 [update] ) |
Website | www |
The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) is a Directorate and partial agreement of the Council of Europe that traces its origins and statutes to the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia (an international treaty adopted by the Council of Europe in 1964: ETS 50, [2] Protocol [3] ).
The signatories to the convention, [2] – 39 member states and the European Union (EU) as of March 2020 [4] – are committed to the harmonisation of quality standards for safe medicines throughout the European continent and beyond. In addition to the member states there are currently 30 observers, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA). The EDQM's quality standards for medicines are published in the European Pharmacopoeia (officially abbreviated to Ph. Eur.), which is recognised as a scientific benchmark worldwide and is legally binding in member states. [4]
The EU pharmaceutical legislation refers directly to the Ph. Eur. and to other activities for which the EDQM is responsible (e.g. the Certification procedure or "CEP" and the OMCL Network – see below), demonstrating the shared commitment of the European organisations to public health protection.
The EDQM is also involved in a number of international collaboration and harmonisation initiatives, such as the Pharmacopoeial Discussion Group (PDG), [5] the International Pharmaceutical Regulators Programme (IPRP), the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), the International Meeting of World Pharmacopoeias (IMWP), the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) and the International API Inspection Programme [6] (co-ordinated by the European Medicines Agency, or EMA).
In addition, the EDQM works closely with World Health Organization (WHO) on the establishment, monitoring and distribution of WHO International Standards for Antibiotics (ISA) [7] and WHO International Chemical Reference Substances (ICRS) [8] which are necessary to apply the tests described in the WHO International Pharmacopoeia.
The EDQM therefore plays an essential role in the complex regulatory framework for medicines in Europe. Its primary purpose is to protect public health by enabling the development, supporting the implementation and monitoring the application of quality standards for safe medicines and their safe use.
Within the Council of Europe, the EDQM's mission is to contribute to the basic human right of access to good quality medicines and healthcare, and to promote and protect human and animal health by:
Directors:
Published and regularly updated by the EDQM/Council of Europe in English and French, the two official languages of the Council of Europe, the Ph. Eur. is a compendium of official quality standards for medicines and their ingredients. It thus helps define the requirements to be met by manufacturers seeking to obtain Marketing Authorisation (MA) for a (human or veterinary) medicinal product in Europe, but its standards are also recognised and used worldwide as a scientific benchmark in the field of quality control for human and veterinary medicines.
These common harmonised quality standards – known as monographs – describe strict specifications for medicines and the substances used in their manufacture, that apply throughout the product's entire life cycle. When adopted, they are legally binding and become mandatory on the same date in the 39 European countries [4] that are signatories to the Ph. Eur. convention, [2] applying to all medicines on their markets.
The contents of the Ph. Eur. are elaborated and updated by the Ph. Eur. Commission, [14] which is responsible for overseeing the practical work of more than 800 experts in every field of the pharmaceutical sciences – all volunteers – who participate in currently 61 groups of experts and working parties. The Ph. Eur. Commission [14] decides on the work programme, [15] appoints the experts and adopts the monographs and other texts that comprise the Ph. Eur. (Articles 6 and 7, Ph. Eur. convention. [2] It meets three times a year in Strasbourg (France) and takes all technical decisions by a unanimous vote. The EDQM provides the scientific secretariat and logistical support for the work of the Ph. Eur. Commission, [14] and facilitates the activities of its groups of experts and working parties.
The texts of the Ph. Eur. cover all therapeutic areas and comprise:
All the analytical methods described in the monographs are experimentally verified. In addition, the EDQM is responsible for establishing and supplying the official reference standards without which it would be impossible to carry out many of the mandatory quality control tests described in the Ph. Eur. These physical standards are used by manufacturers located both in Europe and around the world, and national and European authorities involved in the quality control of medicines, to name but a few. The EDQM publishes a new edition of the Ph. Eur. every three years.
The current chair of the commission is professor Salvador Cañigueral, who was elected in March 2022. [16]
Source: [17]
The EDQM runs a quality evaluation programme for active ingredients and excipients used in the manufacture of medicines. The Certification of Suitability [18] to the Monographs of the European Pharmacopoeia procedure was initially set up in 1992 as a pilot programme but went on to become routine for chemical substances in 1994; it was expanded in 2003 to include herbal drugs (active substances obtained from plants). [19] Granted after an assessment of the documentation submitted by the applicant, a Certificate of Suitability (CEP) [18] provides proof that the methods used by a manufacturer or distributor result in an product whose quality complies with the requirements laid down in the corresponding Ph. Eur. monograph(s). The EDQM also runs an inspection programme for CEP-holders, targeting their manufacturing and/or distribution sites.
The Certification procedure [17] is not compulsory: it is a service that is offered to manufacturers who can submit their CEP [18] in the quality section of a new marketing authorisation (MA) application or a variation of an existing MA. It serves to centralise the evaluation of data for the benefit of both regulatory authorities and industry, thus saving time and resources.
A further advantage of the Certification procedure [17] is that it provides the Ph. Eur. Commission [14] with up-to-date information on the quality of substances on the European market, highlighting where Ph. Eur. texts and quality requirements might require revision and helping to ensure that the pharmacopoeia remains state-of-the-art.
CEPs [18] – which are referred to in EU pharmaceutical legislation – are accepted by the Ph. Eur. member states [4] and by a number of other countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan and Tunisia. An increasing number of licensing authorities worldwide accept CEPs [18] to support (fully or partially) the data related to the quality of active ingredients used in medicinal products.
As previously stated, a CEP [18] is granted after members of the EDQM's panel of assessors (drawn from national medicines agencies throughout Europe) have reviewed a detailed dossier submitted by the manufacturer. This dossier describes the manufacturing process and the tests performed on the raw materials and on the substance produced, as well as the necessary in-process controls. The manufacturer must demonstrate that the article complies with the quality standards laid down in Ph. Eur. and the EU legislation and that the monograph can be used to control impurities, unwanted chemicals that can be present in a substance for a variety of reasons. The applicant must also agree to comply with the relevant EU Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines (GMP guide) as defined in Part II of the GMP Guide, [20] and to accept an on site inspection at any time at the request of the EDQM.
Source: [9]
On 26 May 1994, the European Commission and the Council of Europe decided to launch a new, jointly funded, co-operative venture targeting the quality control of medicines for human and veterinary use on the market, called the European Network of Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCLs). [9] Open to both member states and observers [4] of the Ph. Eur. convention, [2] this network is made up of independent public laboratories that have been appointed by their respective national authorities. Their primary mission is to ensure, through random sample testing, that medicines supplied to patients – wherever they are in Europe – comply with the applicable quality standards and the terms and conditions of their MA.
The laboratories that form the network share resources, expertise and workloads: this not only contributes to reducing public health expenditure, a broader coverage of medicines on the market and to the development of future harmonised common standards, but means that laboratories across Europe have access to state-of-the-art technology and selective analytical procedures.
Nowadays many laboratories within the network have seen a significant shift from medicines on the market testing to the analysis of falsified and illegal medicines on behalf of other authorities such as customs, police, enforcement/food inspectors and courts.
The EDQM is responsible for co-ordinating the network's technical activities and ensuring the smooth running of its various joint programmes.
The OMCL Network [9] performs studies on medicinal products already on the market (market surveillance studies). The EDQM organises inter-laboratory testing activities for OMCLs [9] to improve their analytical performance (proficiency testing scheme [PTS] [21] studies and promotes common quality management systems in all OMCLs [9] to enable work-sharing and mutual recognition of test results.
The EDQM also provides the technical secretariat for the Official Control Authority Batch Release (OCABR) [22] procedures for human and veterinary immunological medicinal products (e.g. vaccines) and human blood-derived medicinal products (e.g. clotting factor, immunoglobulin, albumin. For example, the OCABR [22] procedure guarantees that for the vast majority of the vaccines used in the EU, no batch of vaccine is released to the market in member states without first undergoing an independent quality control by a laboratory of the OMCL Network [9] in addition to the release test conducted by the manufacturer.
According to WHO, [23] it is estimated that half of all medicines worldwide are inappropriately prescribed, dispensed or sold, and that half of all patients fail to take their medicines properly. Errors related to medication use, lack of documentation on how medicines are prescribed, used and dispensed, as well as insufficient communication have a considerable impact on national mortality and morbidity rates. Therefore, the safe and appropriate use of medicines, which depends on the right information being available to those that need it, is as important as product quality.
In order to face this challenge while taking into account current constraints on public health budgets and social inequality in access to healthcare, the European Committee on Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Care (CD-P-PH), [24] which is co-ordinated by the EDQM, oversees the work of experts in three main areas:
The work of the EDQM in the area of blood transfusion is co-ordinated by the European Committee on Blood Transfusion (CD-P-TS), [26] which consists of representatives from authorities working in the field of blood transfusion or at national blood establishments (BEs) from member states of the council of Europe and observers such as the European Commission, WHO, the USFDA and the Council of Europe's Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO). [27] These experts work together on the ethical, legal and organisational aspects of blood transfusion with a view to ensuring quality, increasing availability, avoiding wastage, ensuring optimal use of blood supplies and analysing the possible ethical and organisational impact of new scientific developments. One outcome of this work, the "Guide to the preparation, use and quality assurance of blood components", [28] provides recommendations on blood collection, blood components, technical procedures, transfusion practices and quality systems for BEs.
Through its Blood Proficiency Testing Scheme [29] and Blood Quality Management Programme [30] the committee helps Council of Europe member states improve their blood transfusion services, ensuring the transfer of knowledge and expertise through training and networking and the monitoring of practices in Europe. They also assess epidemiological risks, in particular those related to the emergence of new infectious agents transmissible by blood transfusion.
The work of the Council of Europe in the area of organ, tissue and cell transplantation began in 1987. The guiding principles for the EDQM's activities in this area are ensuring human dignity, maintaining and fulfilling human rights and fundamental freedoms, non-commercialisation of substances of human origin and protecting donors and recipients of organs, tissues and cells. This latter principle is fulfilled by improving and promoting strict standards for quality and safety in order to protect not only the donor and recipient, but also the precious donated organ/tissue itself.
The European Committee on Organ Transplantation (CD-P-TO) [31] is the steering committee in charge of transplantation activities). This committee consists of representatives from member states of the Council of Europe, and observers including the European Commission, WHO, the DH-BIO, Eurotransplant, Scandiatransplant, the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT), The Transplantation Society (TTS), the European Association of Tissue and Cells Banks (EATCB), the European Eye Bank Association (EEBA), the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). It actively promotes the non-commercialisation of donation, the fight against organ/tissue and cell trafficking and the development of ethical, quality and safety standards in the field of organ, tissue and cell transplantation. An important part of the CD-P-TO's work is the development and publication of two major guides: the "Guide to the quality and safety of organs for transplantation" [32] and the "Guide to the quality and safety of tissues and cells for human application". [32]
The EDQM organises a European Donation Day (EDD) [33] together with a different member state every year, to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and transplantation in its member states and to encourage public debate and reflection on this life-saving therapy.
Since 1 January 2009, the EDQM has worked on strengthening consumer health protection in Europe, with a focus on the safe use and quality of cosmetics and materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs.
The European Committee on Cosmetics and Consumer Health (CD-P-COS) [34] is tasked with responding to emerging risks for health arising from the use of cosmetics. By promoting the principles laid down in Council of Europe Resolution ResAP(2008)1 on requirements and criteria for the safety of tattoos and permanent make-up, [35] the committee also works to ensure the safety of these products. Activities on the work programme focus on fostering collaboration between member states and observers.
The CD-P-COS [34] oversees the European Network of Official Cosmetics Control Laboratories (OCCLs). [36] This network was established in 2010 to maximise the efficiency of cosmetics surveillance by strengthening cross-border collaboration and pooling resources to perform Europe-wide market surveillance studies. Several control laboratories in Asia also take part.
In addition to market surveillance studies, network activities include analytical development, PTS studies and the implementation of harmonised quality management systems. Priority is given to testing products that may present a health risk for consumers, either linked to the presence of prohibited or restricted substances (according to EU legislation) or trace metals. The network also publishes test methods after performing inter-laboratory trials to confirm that these methods are fit for purpose.
The European Committee for Food Contact Materials and Articles (CD-P-MCA) [37] is tasked with developing and strengthening harmonised measures that supplement EU and national legislation to ensure the safety of packaging, containers, utensils and other materials and articles for food contact. It is supported by two subordinate bodies: the working group on food contact materials made from paper and board and the working group on printed food contact materials. The technical guides published by the CD-P-MCA [37] are used as reference documents by manufacturers and other business operators, safety evaluators and control laboratories.
Transfusion medicine is the branch of medicine that encompasses all aspects of the transfusion of blood and blood components including aspects related to hemovigilance. It includes issues of blood donation, immunohematology and other laboratory testing for transfusion-transmitted diseases, management and monitoring of clinical transfusion practices, patient blood management, therapeutic apheresis, stem cell collections, cellular therapy, and coagulation. Laboratory management and understanding of state and federal regulations related to blood products are also a large part of the field.
A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea, in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society.
Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, dietary supplements, and medical devices. These guidelines provide minimum requirements that a manufacturer must meet to assure that their products are consistently high in quality, from batch to batch, for their intended use. The rules that govern each industry may differ significantly; however, the main purpose of GMP is always to prevent harm from occurring to the end user. Additional tenets include ensuring the end product is free from contamination, that it is consistent in its manufacture, that its manufacture has been well documented, that personnel are well trained, and that the product has been checked for quality more than just at the end phase. GMP is typically ensured through the effective use of a quality management system (QMS).
The regulation of therapeutic goods, defined as drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency. In other jurisdictions they are regulated at the state level, or at both state and national levels by various bodies, as in Australia.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA).
The British Pharmacopoeia (BP) is the national pharmacopoeia of the United Kingdom. It is an annually published collection of quality standards for medicinal substances in the UK, which is used by individuals and organisations involved in pharmaceutical research, development, manufacture and testing.
Alemtuzumab, sold under the brand names Campath and Lemtrada among others, is a medication used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple sclerosis. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia, it has been used as both a first line and second line treatment. It is given by injection into a vein.
In the experimental (non-clinical) research arena, good laboratory practice or GLP is a quality system of management controls for research laboratories and organizations to ensure the uniformity, consistency, reliability, reproducibility, quality, and integrity of products in development for human or animal health through non-clinical safety tests; from physio-chemical properties through acute to chronic toxicity tests.
The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) is one of six main centers for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The current Director of CBER is Peter Marks, M.D., PhD. CBER is responsible for assuring the safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness of biologics and related products. Not all biologics are regulated by CBER. Monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutic proteins are regulated by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).
NHS Blood and Transplant is an executive special health authority of the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established on 1 October 2005 to take over the responsibilities of two separate NHS agencies: UK Transplant, founded by Dr. Geoffrey Tovey in 1972, and the National Blood Service. Its remit is to provide a reliable, efficient supply of blood, organs and associated services to the NHS. Since NHSBT was established, the organisation has maintained or improved the quality of the services delivered to patients, stabilised the rising cost of blood, and centralised a number of corporate services.
The European Pharmacopoeia is a major regional pharmacopoeia which provides common quality standards throughout the pharmaceutical industry in Europe to control the quality of medicines, and the substances used to manufacture them. It is a published collection of monographs which describe both the individual and general quality standards for ingredients, dosage forms, and methods of analysis for medicines. These standards apply to medicines for both human and veterinary use.
The International Pharmacopoeia is a pharmacopoeia issued by the World Health Organization as a recommendation, with the aim to provide international quality specifications for pharmaceutical substances and dosage forms, together with supporting general methods of analysis, for global use. Its texts can be used or adapted by any WHO member state wishing to establish legal pharmaceutical requirements.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Health of the Government of Singapore. It is a multi-disciplinary agency responsible for applying medical, pharmaceutical, and scientific expertise to protect and advance public health and safety.
Alternatives to animal testing are the development and implementation of test methods that avoid the use of live animals.
A drug reference standard or pharmaceutical reference standard is a highly characterized material suitable to test the identity, strength, quality and purity of substances for pharmaceutical use and medicinal products.
The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) is a government agency that works in the field of biological standardisation and is part of the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It is responsible for developing and producing over 90% of the biological international standards in use around the world.
Unichem Laboratories is an Indian pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Mumbai. It manufactures and markets pharmaceutical formulations across the globe, including the regulated markets of the USA and Europe.
The Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC), is the European Medicines Agency's committee responsible for elaborating the agency's opinions on herbal medicines.
Official Medicines Control Laboratory (OMCL) is the term coined in Europe for a public institute in charge of controlling the quality of medicines and, depending on the country, other similar products (for example, medical devices). They are part of or report to national competent authorities (NCAs).
The Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices is a regulatory and autonomous agency of the Government of Spain that acts as the highest sanitary authority in the country in terms of medical safety on medicines, health products, cosmetics and personal care products.