EMA Phases out Follow-Up Measures

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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will soon be phasing out follow-up measures to marketing authorisations in place of a new system of classification that will be introduced in a stepwise manner.

The European Medicines Agency and its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) have started to classify all post-authorization measures for human medicines as it phases out follow-up measures to marketing authorizations. The new classification system is being phased in a stepwise manner. Post-authorization measures will be classified as either: conditions in Annex II (obligations or specific obligations to fulfill post-authorization measures); additional pharmacovigilance activities in the risk-management plan; or recommendations for further development.

EMA and CHMP are reclassifying all outstanding unclassified follow-up measures, starting in August 2012. The first phase of the new classification system tackled initial marketing-authorization-application opinions as of June 2011, followed by post-authorization procedures starting in November 2011.

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According to EMA, “Follow-up measures were measures applied to marketing authorizations, setting out studies and other activities that the Agency and CHMP had asked the marketing-authorization holder to perform.” Affected marketing-authorization holders will receive an outcome fax that includes information about the new classification for each of their applicable products.