CELEX: 52012PC0051
Language: en
Date: 2012-02-10
Title: Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 as regards pharmacovigilance

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		52012PC0051
		
			Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 as regards pharmacovigilance /* COM/2012/051 final - 2012/0023 (COD) */
			
				
		
		
			
			   	EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The Commission presents a proposal for a
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending, as regards
pharmamacovigilance, Regulation (EC) No 726/2004. It is complemented by
parallel changes to Directive 2001/83/EC.
1.           CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
On 15 December 2010, the European Parliament
and the Council adopted Directive 2010/84/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1235/2010
("2010 pharmacovigilance legislation") amending respectively, as
regards pharmacovigilance, Directive 2001/83/EC and Regulation (EC) No
726/2004. The new legislation shall apply in July 2012.
The adopted measures have substantially
strengthened the legal framework for the surveillance of medicinal products,
with provisions to reinforce the coordinating role of the Agency, the
possibilities for signal detection, and the operation of coordinated procedures
at European level to respond to safety concerns. 
However, recent pharmacovigilance events in the
European Union, in particular the so-called “Mediator case”, have shown the
need for a further improvement of the pharmacovigilance system.
Following an analysis of the Mediator case in
the light of the 2010 pharmacovigilance legislation ("Stress test"),
the Commission has detected certain weaknesses in the pharmacovigilance system
which should be addressed.
In particular, Directive 2001/83/EC provides
for an automatic assessment at Union level when specific serious safety issues
have been identified with regard to nationally authorised products. In the 2010
pharmacovigilance legislation, changes to the Commission's proposal during
co-decision have led to the automatism being lost, as the initiation of the
procedure is linked to an appreciation by the Member State or the Commission as
to whether an urgent action is considered necessary. Thus, when a Member State
considers suspending, revoking or refusing renewal of a marketing
authorisation, but does not consider that urgent action is needed, no
evaluation of the safety concern will be conducted at Union level.
Moreover, marketing authorisation holders are
not required to declare the reasons for the withdrawal of a marketing
authorisation or product. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that voluntary
withdrawal of a marketing authorisation or product by the marketing authorisation
holder could lead to safety issues being missed, in particular if the company
is not transparent about possible safety concerns.
Finally, the public list of medicinal product
subject to additional monitoring provided for in Article 23 of Regulation (EC)
No 726/2004 will include certain medicinal products subject to
post-authorisation safety conditions. Those products will be included in the
list, following consultation with the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment
Committee, only if the Commission or a Member States' competent authorities
make a request. Therefore, competent authorities will have to decide on a
case-by-case basis whether to make public the fact that products are subject to
strengthened surveillance.
2.           OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION'S PROPOSALS
The general policy objectives of the proposals
to amend Directive 2001/83/EC and Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 are in line with
the overall objectives of the EU pharmaceutical legislation. These are intended
to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market for medicinal products
for human use and to better protect health of EU citizens. Following this line,
the proposals aim specifically to address weaknesses identified in the EU
pharmacovigilance system and provide for more transparency and efficiency of
the system in cases where safety concerns are identified.
3.           BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 
The proposals have no implication for the
budget of the Union.
The proposals only make minor changes to the
system set forth by the
2010 pharmacovigilance legislation. They do not
require additional human or administrative resources for the functioning of the
pharmacovigilance system.
2012/0023 (COD)
Proposal for a
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL
amending Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 as
regards pharmacovigilance
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 and Article 168(4)(c)
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the
European Commission[1],
Having regard to the opinion of the
European Economic and Social Committee[2],

Having regard to the opinion of the
Committee of the Regions[3],
Acting in accordance with the ordinary
legislative procedure,
Whereas:
(1)       In order to ensure transparency on the
surveillance of authorised medicinal products, the list of medicinal products
subject to additional monitoring established by Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 laying down
Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal
products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines
Agency[4],
as amended by Regulation (EU) No 1235/2010[5], should
systematically include medicinal products that are subject to
post-authorisation safety conditions.
(2)       In addition, voluntary action by the
marketing authorisation holder should not lead to a situation where concerns
related to the risks or benefits of a medicinal product authorised in the Union
are not properly addressed in all Member States. Therefore, provisions should
be made for the marketing authorisation holder to inform the Agency of the
reasons for the withdrawal of a medicinal product, for interrupting the placing
on the market of a medicinal product, for requests for revoking a marketing
authorisation, or for not renewing a marketing authorisation.
(3)       Regulation (EC) No
726/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(4)       Since
the objective of this Regulation, namely to provide for specific rules on
pharmacovigilance and improve the safety of medicinal products for human use
authorised pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 cannot be sufficiently
achieved by Member States and can be better achieved at Union level,
the Union
may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the
principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does
not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve this objective,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 is amended
as follows:
(1)          In Article 13(4), the second subparagraph is
replaced by the following:
"The holder shall also notify the Agency
if the product ceases to be placed on the market of the Member State, either
temporarily or permanently. Such notification shall, otherwise than in
exceptional circumstances, be made no less than two months before the
interruption in the placing on the market of the product. The holder shall inform the
Agency of the reasons for such action in accordance with Article 14b."
(2)          The following Article 14b is inserted:
"Article 14b
The marketing authorization holder shall notify the
Agency of any action taken by him to suspend the marketing of a medicinal
product, to withdraw a medicinal product from the market, to request the
withdrawal of a marketing authorisation or not to apply for the renewal of a
marketing authorisation, together with the reasons for such action. The marketing
authorisation holder shall in particular declare if such action is linked to
any of the grounds set out in Articles 116 and 117 of Directive 2001/83/EC.
In such case, the Agency shall ensure that this
information is brought to the attention of the Member States." 
(3)          Article 20(8) is replaced by the
following:
"8. Where the procedure results from the evaluation
of data relating to pharmacovigilance, the opinion of the Agency in accordance
with paragraph 2 of this Article shall be adopted by the Committee for
Medicinal Products for Human Use on the basis of a recommendation from the
Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee and Article 107j(2) of Directive
2001/83/EC shall apply."
(4)          Article 23 is replaced by the
following:
"Article 23
1. The Agency shall, in collaboration with the
Member States, set up, maintain and make public a list of medicinal products
that are subject to additional monitoring.
That list shall include the names and active
substances of:
(a) medicinal products authorised in the Union
that contain a new active substance which, on 1 January 2011, was not contained
in any medicinal product authorised in the Union;
(b) any biological medicinal product not
covered by point (a) that was authorised after 1 January 2011;
(c) medicinal products
that are authorised pursuant to this Regulation subject to conditions referred
to in points (c), (ca), (cb) and (cc) of Article 9(4), or in Article 10a,
Article 14(7) and (8) and in Article 21(2);
(d) medicinal products
that are authorised pursuant to Directive 2001/83/EC, subject to the conditions
referred to in Articles 21a, 22, 22a and 104a of that Directive.
2. The list referred to
in paragraph 1 shall include an electronic link to the
product information and to the summary of the risk management plan.
3. In the cases
referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article,
the Agency shall remove a medicinal product from the list five years after
the Union reference date referred to in Article 107c(5) of Directive
2001/83/EC.
In the cases referred to in points (c) and (d) of
paragraph 1, the Agency shall remove a medicinal product from the list once the conditions
have been fulfilled.
4. For medicinal products
included in that list, the summary of product characteristics and the package
leaflet shall include the statement “This medicinal product is subject to
additional monitoring”. That statement shall be preceded by a black symbol
which shall be selected by the Commission following a recommendation of the
Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee by 2 January 2012, and shall be
followed by an appropriate standardised explanatory sentence."
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on
the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal
of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its
entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 10.2.2012
For the European Parliament                       For
the Council
The President                                                 The
President
[1]               OJ C , , p. .
[2]               OJ C , , p. .
[3]               OJ C , , p. .
[4]               OJ L 136, 30.4.2004, p. 1.
[5]               OJ L 348, 31.12.2010, p. 1.