Commission Regulation (EC) No 847/2000 of 27 April 2000 laying down the provisions for implementation of the criteria for designation of a medicinal product as an orphan medicinal product and definitions of the concepts 'similar medicinal product' and 'clinical superiority'
Date: 2000-04-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: drugs classification, market approval, medicinal product, pharmaceutical legislation

28.4.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 103/5

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 847/2000

of 27 April 2000

laying down the provisions for implementation of the criteria for designation of a medicinal
product as an orphan medicinal product and definitions of the concepts ‘similar medicinal product’
and ‘clinical superiority’

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 of the Euro-
pean Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1999 on
orphan medicinal products (1), and in particular Articles 3 and
8 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 calls on the Commission
to adopt provisions necessary for the implementation of
Article 3 and to adopt definitions of ‘similar medicinal
product’ and ‘clinical superiority’.

In order to implement Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No
141/2000, additional details on the factors that should
be considered when establishing prevalence, likely return
on investment and the satisfactory nature of alternative
methods of diagnosis, prevention and treatment may be
helpful for sponsors and the Committee for Orphan
Medicinal Products.

This information should be presented in accordance
with the guidance drawn up by the Commission
pursuant to Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 141/
2000.

Given the nature of the medicinal products concerned,
and the probability that the conditions to be treated are
rare, it is not appropriate to lay down overly prescriptive
requirements to establish that the criteria are met.

The assessment of the criteria referred to in Article 3
should be on the basis of information that is as objective
as possible.

Other Community measures in the field of rare diseases
should be taken into account.

In order to ensure appropriate respect of the market
exclusivity provisions laid down in Article 8 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 141/2000,
it is necessary to lay down
definitions of the concepts of ‘similar medicinal product’
and ‘clinical superiority’; these definitions should take
into account the work and experience of the Committee
for Proprietary Medicinal Products in evaluating existing
medicinal products, and the relevant opinions of the
Scientific Committee on Medicinal Products and Medical
Devices.

The definitions should be further supported by the
guidelines foreseen by Article 8(5) of Regulation (EC) No
141/2000.

These provisions should be updated regularly in the light
of scientific and technical knowledge and experience

(1) OJ L 18, 22.1.2000, p. 1.

with the designation and regulation of orphan medicinal
products.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
conformity with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on Medicinal Products for Human Use,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Purpose

This Regulation lays down factors to be considered when
implementing Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 on
orphan medicinal products and establishes definitions of
‘similar medicinal product’ and ‘clinical superiority’
for the
purposes of implementing Article 8 of the abovementioned
the
Regulation.
Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, and competent
authorities in the interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 141/
2000.

is intended to assist potential sponsors,

It

Article 2

Criteria for designation

1.

Prevalence of a condition in the Community

For the purpose of establishing, pursuant to the first subpara-
graph of Article 3(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 141/2000, that a
medicinal product is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or
treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condi-
tion affecting not more than five in 10 000 persons in the
Community, the following specific rules shall apply and the
documentation listed below shall be provided in accordance
with the guidance drawn up pursuant to Article 5(3) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 141/2000:

(a) the documentation shall

include appended authoritative
references which demonstrate that the disease or conditions
for which the medicinal product would be administered,
affects not more than five in 10 000 persons in the
Community at the time at which the application for desig-
nation is submitted, where these are available;

(b) the data shall include appropriate details on the condition
intended to be treated and a justification of the life-threat-
ening or chronically debilitating nature of the condition
supported by scientific or medical references;

(c) the documentation submitted by the sponsor shall include
or refer to a review of the relevant scientific literature, and
shall provide information from relevant databases in the
Community, where these are available. Where no database
in the Community is available, reference may be made to
databases available in third countries, provided the appro-
priate extrapolations are made;

L 103/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.4.2000

(d) where a disease or condition has been considered within
the framework of other Community activities on rare
diseases, this information shall be provided. In the case of
diseases or conditions
financially
supported by the Community in order to improve informa-
tion on rare diseases, a relevant extract from this informa-
tion, including in particular, details of the prevalence of the
disease or condition in question, shall be provided.

included in projects

2.

Potential for return on investment

the purpose of establishing, pursuant

For
to the second
subparagraph of Article 3(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 141/
2000, that a medicinal product is intended for the diagnosis,
prevention or treatment of a life-threatening, seriously debili-
tating or serious and chronic condition in the Community, and
that without incentives it is unlikely that the marketing of the
medicinal product in the Community would generate sufficient
return to justify the necesary investment, the following specific
rules shall apply and the appropriate documentation shall be
provided in accordance with the guidance drawn up pursuant
to Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 141/2000:

(a) the data shall include appropriate details on the condition
intended to be treated and a justification of the life-threat-
ening or seriously debilitating or serious and chronic nature
of
the condition supported by scientific or medical
references;

(b) the documentation submitted by the sponsor shall include
data on all costs that the sponsor has incurred in the
course of developing the medicinal product;

administered at the time at which the application for desig-
nation is submitted.

3.

Existence of other methods of diagnosis, prevention or treatment

An application for designation of a medicinal product as an
orphan medicinal product may be submitted in accordance
with either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 of this Article. Irrespec-
tive of whether an application for designation is submitted in
accordance with paragraph 1 or 2, the sponsor must addition-
ally establish that there exists no satisfactory method of diag-
nosis, prevention or treatment of the condition in question, or
if such method exists that the medicinal product will be of
significant benefit to those affected by that condition.

For the purpose of establishing, pursuant to Article 3(1)(b) of
Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 that there exists no satisfactory
method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of the condition
in question, or if such method exists that the medicinal product
will be of significant benefit to those affected by that condition,
the following rules shall apply:

(a) details of any existing diagnosis, prevention or treatment
methods of
the condition in question that have been
authorised in the Community shall be provided, making
reference to scientific and medical literature or other rele-
vant information. These may include authorised medicinal
products, medical devices or other methods of diagnosis,
prevention or treatment which are used in the Community;

(b) either a justification as to why the methods referred to in

paragraph (a) are not considered satisfactory;

(c) the documentation provided shall

include details of any
grants, tax incentives or other cost recovery provisions
received either within the Community or in third countries;

or

(d) in cases where the medicinal product is already authorised
for any indication or where the medicinal product is under
investigation for one or more other indications, a clear
explanation of and justification for the method that is used
to apportion the development costs among the various
indications shall be provided;

(e) a statement of and justification for all development costs
that the sponsor expects to incur after the submission of
the application for designation shall be provided;

(f) a statement of and justification for all production and
marketing costs that the sponsor has incurred in the past
and expects to incur during the first 10 years that the
medicinal product is authorised shall be provided;

(g) an estimate and justification for the expected revenues from
sales of the medicinal product in the Community during
the first 10 years after authorisation;

(h) all cost and revenue data shall be determined in accordance
with generally accepted accounting practices and shall be
certified by a registered accountant in the Community;

(i) the documentation provided shall include information on
the prevalence and incidence in the Community of the
condition for which the medicinal product would be

(c) a justification for

the medicinal
product for which designation is sought will be of signifi-
cant benefit to those affected by the condition.

the assumption that

4.

General provisions

(a) A sponsor applying for designation of a medicinal product
as an orphan medicinal product shall apply for designation
at any stage of the development of the medicinal product
before the application for marketing authorisation is made.
An application for designation may however be submitted
for a new therapeutic indication for an already authorised
medicinal product. In this case, the marketing authorisation
holder shall apply for a separate marketing authorisation
which will cover only the orphan indication(s).

(b) More than one sponsor may obtain designation as an
orphan medicinal product for the same medicinal product
intended to prevent, treat or diagnose the same disease or
condition, provided that a complete application for desig-
nation as laid down by the guidelines specified in Article
5(3) is submitted in each case.

(c) Where a medicinal product is designated by the Committee
for Orphan Medicinal Products reference to the criteria for
designation will be made either to Article 2(1) or to Article
2(2) of this Regulation.

28.4.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 103/7

Article 3

Definitions

The definitions in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 141/

1.
2000 apply to those terms when used in this Regulation:

— ‘substance’ means a substance used in the manufacture of a
medicinal product for human use as defined in Article 1 of
Directive 65/65/EEC.

2.
For the purposes of the implementation of Article 3 of
Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 on orphan medicinal products,
the following definition shall apply:

— ‘significant benefit’ means a clinically relevant advantage or

a major contribution to patient care.

For the purposes of the implementation of Article 8 of
3.
Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 on orphan medicinal products,
the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘active substance’ means a substance with physiological or

pharmacological activity;

(b) ‘similar medicinal product’ means a medicinal product
containing a similar active substance of substances as
contained in a currently authorised orphan medicinal
product, and which is intended for the same therapeutic
indication;

(c) ‘similar

active

substance’ means

active
substance, or an active substance with the same principal
molecular structural features (but not necessarily all of the
same molecular structural features) and which acts via the
same mechanism.

an identicial

etary name (INN) sub-stem) would normally
be considered similar,

— the monoclonal antibodies bind to the same
target epitope. These would normally be
considered similar;

(2.2) polysaccharide

substances

identical
saccharide repeating units, even if the number of
units varies and even if there are post-polymerisa-
tion modifications (including conjugation);

having

(2.3) polynucleotide

gene
transfer and antisense substances), consisting of
two or more distinct nucleotides where:

substances

(including

— the difference in the nucleotide sequence of
the purine and pyrimidine bases or
their
derivatives is not major. Therefore for anti-
sense substances, the addition or deletion of
nucleotide(s) not significantly affecting the
kinetics of hybridisation to the target would
normally be considered similar. For gene
transfer substances, unless the differences in
the sequence were significant the substances
would normally be considered similar,

— the difference in structure between them
relates to modifications to the ribose or deox-
yribose sugar backbone or to the replacement
of the backbone by synthetic analogues,

— the difference is in the vector or transfer

system;

(2.4) closely

related

definable
complex
substances (such as two related viral vaccines, or
two related cell therapy products);

partly

This includes:

(1) isomers, mixture of isomers, complexes, esters, salts
and non-covalent derivatives of
the original active
substance, or an active substance that differs from the
original active substance only with respect to minor
changes in the molecular structure, such as a structural
analogue;

or

(2) the same macromolecule or one that differs from the
original macromolecule only with respect to changes in
the molecular structure such as:

(2.1) proteinaceous substances where:

— the difference is due to infidelity of transcrip-

tion or translation,

— the difference in structure between them is
due to post-translational events
(such as
different glycosylation patterns) or different
tertiary structures,

— the difference in the amino acid sequence is
not major. Therefore, two pharmacologically
related protein substances of the same group
(for
compounds
having the same International Non-propri-

two biological

example,

or

(3) the same radiopharmaceutical active substance, or one
differing from the original in radionuclide, ligand, site
of labelling or molecule-radionuclide coupling mecha-
nism linking the molecule and radionuclide provided
that it acts via the same mechanism;

(d) ‘clinically superior’ means that a medicinal product

is
shown to provide a significant therapeutic or diagnostic
advantage over and above that provided by an authorised
orphan medicinal product in one or more of the following
ways:

this would represent

(1) greater efficacy than an authorised orphan medicinal
product (as assessed by effect on a clinically meaningful
endpoint in adequate and well controlled clinical trials).
Generally,
the same kind of
evidence needed to support a comparative efficacy
two different medicinal products. Direct
claim for
trials are generally necessary,
comparative clinical
however
endpoints,
comparisons based on other
including surrogate endpoints may be used. In any case,
the methodological approach should be justified;

or

L 103/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.4.2000

(2) greater safety in a substantial portion of the target population(s). In some cases direct comparative

clinical trials will be necessary;

or

(3) in exceptional cases, where neither greater safety nor greater efficacy has been shown, a demonstra-
tion that the medicinal product otherwise makes a major contribution to diagnosis or to patient
care.

Article 4

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its adoption by the Commission and shall apply
from the same day.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 27 April 2000.

For the Commission

Erkki LIIKANEN

Member of the Commission