On April 27, 2023 the European Commission (“Commission”) released its proposal to introduce a single procedure for the granting of Supplementary Protection Certificates (“SPCs”) throughout the EU. The changes are intended to complement the new unitary patent procedure that will enter into force on June 1, 2023. The Commission intends the new unitary SPC to
Pharma
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: New Classification Mechanism for Borderline Cases
Borderline issues arise when the regulatory classification of a product, for example, as a medicine, a medical device or a food supplement, is unclear. Uncertainty about the regulatory status of a product under development, and consequently uncertainty as to what legal rules need to be followed, can have immense consequences for developers and innovators. To…
EU Pharma Revision Series: Pharmacovigilance
The European Commission’s proposal to amend the current pharmaceutical regulatory framework includes a draft Directive on medicines for human use (the “Proposed Directive”) and a draft Regulation on the central authorisation and supervision of medicines (the “Proposed Regulation”, together the “Proposal”). In this blog, we provide an overview of the potential impact of the Proposal…
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: Data Protection Aspects
On April 26, 2023, the European Commission proposed the long awaited reform of the EU’s pharmaceutical regulations (see here to view our previous blogs on the subject). This blog post discusses the data protection aspects of the proposals, which relate to the data processing activities of the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”).
Legal basis – The…
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: Temporary Emergency Marketing Authorizations
Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the relatively slow approval of vaccines in the EU versus other key jurisdictions, as part of the EU’s General Pharmaceutical Legislation amendment proposal, published on 26 April 2023, the European Commission has proposed to introduce temporary emergency marketing authorizations (“TEMAs”) for use when there is a “public health emergency.” …
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: National MA Procedures Including the Mutual Recognition Procedure and Decentralized Procedure
The European Commission (the “Commission”) wants to “avoid unnecessary administrative and financial burdens for applicants and competent authorities.” As such, the Commission’s proposal for a revised Directive on the Union Code Relating to Medicinal Products for Human Use (the “Directive”) retains the Decentralized Procedure (“DCP”) and Mutual Recognition Procedure (“MRP”). Chapter III of…
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: Decentralized Manufacturing
The EU’s General Pharmaceutical Legislation amendment proposal, which was published on 26 April 2023 (“the Proposal”), is introducing new measures to regulate decentralized manufacturing, which is increasingly used for certain categories of medicinal products. In particular, the Proposal introduces new obligations for manufacturers and for national competent authorities overseeing decentralized sites. In this blog…
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: Supply Security and Shortages Control
As part of the EU’s General Pharmaceutical Legislation amendment proposal, published on 26 April 2023 (“the Proposal”), the European Commission (“Commission”) has introduced a series of measures aimed at securing the supply of critical medicinal products across the EU and at preventing shortages. In particular, there are new obligations for Marketing Authorization Holders (“MAH”)…
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: Bolar Exemption under Patent Rights
The latest draft pharmaceutical legislation published by the European Commission (“Commission”) is set to shake up the regulatory exclusivity protections available to innovator pharmaceutical companies operating in the EU (as discussed in further in our previous blog). As part of these developments, the Commission has clarified the concept of the Bolar exemption…
EU Pharma Legislation Review Series: Access to Documents and Transparency of R&D Funding
The EU’s latest draft pharmaceutical legislation contains some interesting developments on transparency matters, both in relation to access to documents and transparency around the funding of research and development of medicinal products.
1. Draft Regulation – Further Clarity Regarding Public Access to Documents
Disclosure of documents in response to an access request under the EU…