The pharmaceutical industry has become a favorite “bad guy” among the public, media, and legislators. There is a perception that the many risks of medications is proof that the industry does not care about the safety of patients. Nonsense. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘patient safety’
No Free Lunch: An Intuitive Approach to Benefit-Risk Management
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010Ethnographic Research and REMS
Monday, July 12th, 2010-Guest Blog by Andrea J. Simon, PhD.-
In the past year, pressures to integrate observational or ethnographic research (which really are one and the same) in pharmaceutical and biotech industries are increasing as the value of this research is becoming better understood. In particular, Phase IV research involving the management and use of a drug protocol is becoming more and more important; i.e., when a drug is in widespread use, risks need to be better understood. At the same time, there is a growing sense of uncertainty around ethnography’s legitimate role, how to integrate it into quantitative research, and when to use its information and insights to support or alter a previously defined direction. Along with this greater scrutiny, there is rising debate about ‘best practices’ in observational research processes, especially regarding the need to define protocols to ensure that research is conducted with proper rigor and is producing suitable, credible results. (more…)
REMS Assessments: Designing and Evaluating REMS
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010Sponsors are struggling with how to adapt research survey methods to meet the regulatory reporting standards of REMS assessments. Assessments need to be designed in a way that measure risk mitigation. Reports and interpretation of findings are highly qualitative and declarations of success may be inconsistent with those findings.
REMS assessments should be designed in a meaningful manner for measuring specific objectives. It’s important to start with a rational design – balance the interests of regulators, customers, and manufacturers. The design should be evidence-based and include end users in the design process. (more…)
Contingency Planning: Strategies to Negotiate the Barriers to Product Approval
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009In a constantly changing regulatory environment, having a well planned contingency strategy is vital for successful Food and Drug Administration (FDA) negotiations. Today, this is more important than ever. The FDA is asking companies to prepare Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) to help ensure patient safety, and has issued a documentation template, but has yet to provide further guidance to the industry on how such REMS should be developed. (more…)
REMS Effectiveness Management
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Your company wouldn’t launch a new product and wait for the end-of-year results before assessing whether the launch strategy was effective, correct? In fact, the process most pharmaceutical product managers employ includes weekly measurement of prescription volume, tracking product inventory, assessing distribution patterns of promotional materials, measuring knowledge/attitude/practices of prescribers, and adjusting marketing activities to achieve success.
So why would tracking and adjusting risk management activities be any different? FDA requires an assessment of REMS performance at intervals no less frequently than 18 months, 3 years, and 7 years post launch. What are you doing before and between formal assessments to actively manage and maximize the effectiveness of the REMS? (more…)
Balancing Interests While Keeping Patient Safety Priority #1
Thursday, July 30th, 2009One of the more challenging aspects of the new FDA world of REMS is the tension it can create among various functional groups such as Marketing, Risk Management, Safety and Medical within a Pharma or Biotech company. Rules are unclear. Territories are vaguely defined. New objectives seem similar to the old but may not be in reality. And it involves many players, across most internal disciplines. Maybe it’s time that we all think of this as a cross-disciplinary sport that no one really knows how to play well, yet.
The urgency of the new regulatory environment is simply demanding some quick innovative thinking and action.
Some of our clients and others are addressing this new “X-Disciplinary Sport” to good advantage. There are a number of principles that, if kept at the forefront of thinking, can help you re-organize and align your teams around this new REMS-driven world. (more…)
Pharmaceutical Safety Risk Management
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009What a difference a year makes…
In early 2008, the topic of risk management was greeted with aversion by most pharmaceutical managers responsible for commercial activities. “If I encounter a drug with genuine safety concerns, I’ll call you” was a frequent response.
Today, everyone is talking about risk management… and for good reason. The FDA Amendment Act (FDAAA) of 2007 granted FDA sweeping new authority to require Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) of any product at any stage of lifecycle. In response to FDAAA, industry had three immediate questions:
- What determines if REMS will be necessary?
- How actively will FDA implement the REMS provisions?
- Who should be thinking about risk management?
