From the time humans begin taking an investigational new drug, pharmacovigilance measures play a critical role in every phase of a product’s lifecycle. However, understanding pharmacovigilance requirements can be daunting even for seasoned industry pros. This overview will answer all the questions you ever wanted to know about pharmacovigilance, but were afraid to ask. 

What is pharmacovigilance?
Pharmacovigilance, sometimes shortened to “PV,” is the science of collecting, monitoring, researching, assessing and evaluating information from healthcare providers and patients on the adverse effects of medications and biologics. 

What are the basic components of a pharmacovigilance strategy?
A robust pharmacovigilance strategy requires expertise in the following areas: medicine, regulatory, and technology. It involves the following main elements:

• Strong processes/SOPs
• Individual Case Study Report Capture and Processing
• Literature Screening
• Signal Detection and Assessment
• Risk Management
• Periodic Safety Writing
• Regulatory expedited reporting
• Safety Database

When should a manufacturer consider a pharmacovigilance plan?
Drug developers need to consider their pharmacovigilance approach prior to human testing (Phase I) and throughout the duration of product development and the post marketing product lifecycle. 

How does pharmacovigilance impact brand loyalty and commercialization?
Manufacturers must comply with myriad pharmacovigilance regulations in order to obtain and maintain the authorization to commercialize their products. A robust and complete pharmacovigilance program supporting continuous enhancement of the product safety profile is crucial to ensuring patients and healthcare providers are well informed on product safety. Proactive pharmacovigilance where data is centralized across trials will allow early identification and management of any risks, thus ensuring optimal patient access to a drug with the highest safety.

What are the key considerations in the United States?
In the United States, all pharmaceuticals, including drugs and biologics, as well as medical devices, are subject to federal regulations, enforced by the Food and Drug Administration. During clinical development of a product, the FDA is focused on development of a safety profile and requires, similar to Europe, the submission of expedited reports for serious and unexpected adverse events and confirmed signals occurring in association with the drug or biologic under development. 

Unlike Europe, the FDA is focused on new molecular entities and on serious and unexpected adverse events occurring after marketing.   Also, unlike Europe, not all newly approved pharmaceuticals are required to have a risk management plan in place at the time of marketing. 

The FDA has a robust signal detection program in place, and pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of medical devices are subject to these regulations.  

What are the key considerations in Europe? 
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the coordinating agency for all members of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes all 28 member states of the EU plus Iceland , Liechtenstein, and Norway. The EU/EEA has undergone major changes in its post-marketing legislation culminating with a major change in pharmacovigilance requirements, which began in July, 2012 though the publication of the good pharmacovigilance practices (GVP) modules. 

The EMA is requiring that all applicants name a qualified person for pharmacovigilance (QPPV), and set up a pharmacovigilance system master file (PSMF) which will describe all aspects of their PV system. The GVP also details requirements for signal detection and management, literature screening, and risk management, with requirements which are often more stringent than FDA regulations.

The EMA (unlike the FDA), now requires all serious adverse events, both those labeled and those unlabeled, to be submitted within 15 calendar days to the EMA and other national regulatory agencies, as well as submission of all case reports of non-serious adverse events within 90 calendar days of receipt by a marketing authorization holder (MAH – i.e., a pharmaceutical company.)

While Europe, and United States are getting closer and more harmonized, there are still some areas where the regulations differ and require specific expertise to ensure compliance. It is advised to consult with local experts in pharmacovigilance.

How do we develop a global solution to product safety?
Global solutions must be based on two criteria:

1. Fulfilling the regulatory requirements in the geographic areas in which medical products and devices are developed and marketed
2. Tailoring approaches to fulfill regulatory requirements with the unique products of the individual company

Manufacturers should ensure that global compliance objectives are identified and addressed, and that high-quality signal detection, prioritization, and evaluation are in place to identify actual risks (called Identified Risks),  as well as Potential Risks.

What are the benefits of outsourcing pharmacovigilance services vs. maintaining the responsibilities in-house?
Manufacturers of all sizes can benefit from outsourcing pharmacovigilance activities. The expertise, systems and flexibility provided by a vendor can complement current activities or even provide an entire team without the need to hire individual staff members. The concentration of various experts within a provider's team will allow for best-in-class support in the medical, regulatory, and technologic aspects which all are critical to setting up a compliant PV system. 

What role does pharmacovigilance play in specialty pharmacies?
Specialty pharmacies are playing an increasing role in patient support and disease management programs, which requires compliance with the guidelines that exist in the global pharmacovigilance landscape. Manufacturers and authorities expect that AEs highlighted through client contact are duly recorded and reported. It is critical to ensure adequate training of pharmacy staff to be able to detect, document, and communicate reported safety information.

What role does pharmacovigilance play in Reimbursement Hubs?
Reimbursement Hubs have frequent communication with patients and must have procedures in place to report potential AEs. The reimbursement hub staff, like the specialty pharmacy staff, is expected to be fully trained on recognizing and forwarding AEs appropriately. These processes are key so authorities and manufacturers can track the safety of the product as well as identify potential signals proactively.

Where can I get more information?
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) offer a variety of information about drug safety regulations on their websites. UBC is an expert in navigating pharmacovigilance requirements. We have a team of more than 100 professionals stationed around the globe committed to pharmacovigilance programs of all sizes.

The system of pharmacovigilance is a state system for the collection and scientific evaluation of information about adverse events during medicinal drug application for the adoption of appropriate regulatory decisions. The approaches to pharmacovigilance providing are implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO). They are the same in all countries of the world.

Adverse reaction (AR) is any undesirable negative reaction, arising from drugs use at  standard doses, recommended for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases or for the modification of the physiological functions of the body. AR can occur due to many reasons.  This is facilitated by certain risk factors from medicines, the human body, the environment and society. There are different classifications of drugs’ adverse reactions, according to which they are distinguished by the pathogenesis of this occurrence, systemic manifestations and others.

The classification according to which the ARs are divided into 4 types - A, B, C, D - corresponds to the current level of knowledge about AR. It should be noted that the allocation of ARs in 4 types is conditional, because their pathogenesis can contemporary be associated with several mechanisms. However, today the WHO and the vast majority of countries, including Ukraine, adhere to the classification approaches, reflected in the table.

Type A ARs occur in case of medical using of drugs most often (about 75%). Their emergence is due to the pharmacological properties or toxicity of the drug itself or its metabolites, therefore they are predictable, they are not characterized by high lethality. The ARs of type C and D occur in less than 5%.

According to the definition outlined in the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated 27.12.2006 No. 898 "About the approval of the procedure of pharmacovigilance for adverse reactions of medicines permitted for medical use", as amended by the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated December 29, 2011. No 1005 (hereinafter - the order of the Ministry of Health No 898), pharmacovigilance is a kind of activity related to the collection, identification, evaluation, studying and prevention of the occurrence of adverse reactions (ARs) or problems associated with the drugs using.

Supervision over the safety of drugs using in Ukraine on behalf of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine is carried out by the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The Department of Post-Registration Supervision (hereinafter - the Department) - the structural unit of the Center, is the central link of the system of pharmacovigilance of Ukraine and is directly involved in its implementation in Ukraine.
The usage of any medicinal product together with the therapeutic effect may cause adverse effects. Adverse reactions, occurring during the medical application of the drugs, may be due to their properties or features of the body response on the drug administration.
Absolutely safe medicines do not exist. This fact makes it necessary to permanent monitoring  the safety of medicines. Only if the benefit of the application prevails over the risk, the drug can be used, contrawise the drug should not be used.

Persistent monitoring of the drugs’ safety allows specialists to assess the risk / benefit ratio and make appropriate decisions on the further use of the drug.
In case of insufficient quality of medicines, the control is carried out by the State Inspection for Quality Control of Medicines. In case of ARs happened due to the characteristics of the drugs or organism’s response on their administration, the control is carried out by The State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine via the functioning of the system of the pharmacovigilance in Ukraine.

We will be grateful for the provision of any information on the detection of atypical manifestations or side effects, or lack of effectiveness in the use of medicines of our manufacture.
If you become aware of an adverse reaction associated with the drug company L.A. TRADING S.L.U., please find the opportunity to inform us.

The contact person responsible for pharmacovigilance of L.A. TRADING S.L.U.:
Jorge Fernandez Tuda
Telephone (with 24 hour automatic reply): +376338898
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Cisplatin - Vista 50мg/50мl

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The company L.A. TRADING S.L.U. is an international supplier of specialized products of biochemical production. We supply a variety of products and innovative services to customers in various countries around the world. Our deep knowledge of the target market is provided by the international branch network and range of services, including high-quality technical support services and specialized solutions.

At L.A. TRADING S.L.U. we place partnerships with customers and principals at the heart of our activities. As we are the high quality service oriented specialized distributor, our entrepreneurial and dynamic approach to doing business is reflected in our can-do attitude to challenges. We consult with our customers` principals to develop new ways to create value for our partners.

Our people are experts in their field, with extensive local markets knowledge, supported by an international structure. Inherent flexibility allows us to quickly react to market changes. Our passion for innovation stimulates us to continuously enhance our technical service offering.
We aim to provide effective, sustainable and reliable solutions. Our business is your business.

Our values – the order should be in everything we do.
Company L.A. TRADING S.L.U. continues to expand and improve its activities based on common and united values. Our values underlie in the our business activities, which are aimed primarily to benefit our clients and major suppliers.

Competence.
We, in the company L.A. TRADING S.L.U., believe that the competence of our staff is our main advantage. A deep understanding of our markets, technical knowledge about our products and their application, as well as opportunities to combine it with commercial know-how allow us to expand the set of services in all areas of our commercial activity.

The management of the company L. A. TRADING S. L. U.the orientation into development.
The management of the company L. A. TRADING S. L. U. determines the business strategy of the company, ensuring corporate governance and introducing of updated approaches are based on innovations to sales of biochemical product worldwide.

Our Business Cases
Animal Nutrition
High quality products for agriculture enterprises and feed producers
Chemicals
A wide portfolio of specialized and other chemicals with innovative products for high-tech solutions.
Personal Care
Distributor of ingredients and solutions for markets of personal care products and perfumes.
Pharma
A wide range of finished drugs and APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) for the pharmaceutical, veterinary industry and health care.
Food & Health
High quality food ingredients, auxiliary materials and additives for food products and nutraceutical
Medical Devices
Specialized medical devices used in traumatology and orthopedics, surgery, and aesthetic medicine.

"We create value to grow together"