eCTD Archives | European Regulatory Affairs Specialists

Company Announcement – Majella Ryan FTOPRA

17th October 2018

Majella Ryan FTOPRA

Ivowen are pleased to announce that Fellowship of The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs (FTOPRA) has been conferred on Majella Ryan. According to TOPRA:

“The award of a Fellowship is intended to recognise a contribution in which the individual has used his/her professional knowledge and experience to influence, guide or develop the profession in a proactive way.
While clearly the individual’s regulatory experience and current senior position achieved are important, what is also looked for is a consistent record of activities or influences extending beyond the confines of the individual’s day-to-day activities.”

Majella Ryan has been in the regulatory affairs business for over 20 years and in this time has worked in both small and large multi-national companies, setting up Ivowen in 2002. Since then, Majella was involved in the set-up of TOPRA in Ireland, acting as the inaugural Chair in 2001/2011, as well as speaking at various conferences and providing extensive regulatory training to companies around the world. In addition, Majella is actively engaged in the publication and explanation of regulatory and guidance updates via Ivowen’s website, and via Ivowen’s EU network, EuDRAcon. As part of Ivowen’s daily work, Majella is involved in the high level regulatory strategy and support of complex projects and products like biosimilars, paediatric investigation plans and clinical trials, eCTD implementation, regulatory pathways to approval, Brexit planning, and much more.

For more information on Ivowen’s services and how we can help you, contact us.

2018 02 eSubmission Roadmap final slide v2.0 Feb 2017.

eCTD is coming…

7th February 2018

All good (and bad) things, must come to an end. The NeeS (Non-eCTD electronic submissions) submission format, will no longer be accepted for any Marketing Authorisation applications (MAAs) or submissions in MRP or DCP from 1^st January 2018. Centralised Procedure (CP) submissions have been mandatory in eCTD since 2010. All new MAAs submitted using either the Decentralised Procedure (DCP) or the Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP), have had to be in eCTD format since the middle of 2015. As of 1^st January 2018, all MRP submissions must be submitted in eCTD. Therefore, if your application/product is not in eCTD format and you need to submit an MRP variation, you have to transition to eCTD for the next submission.

What is the timetable?

Starting from 1^st January 2018 it is mandatory for all CP, DCP and MRP submissions to be in eCTD format. For national procedures (NP) the deadline is currently set at 1^st July 2018 for new MAAs.

Following quickly behind these requirements, all submissions in CP, DCP, MRP and NP will have to be in eCTD from January 2019. At this stage, the exact date is not confirmed, but you need to be ready.

We can help…

Ivowen can create a baseline dossier for any submission based on currently approved information. Currently, baselines are not mandatory but some Member States are requesting them. In addition, it is best practise to get your dossier into a baseline for all future submissions.

Ivowen can transition your application to eCTD at the next regulatory activity (variation, renewal, Article 61.3, etc.).

Ivowen can manage the eCTD lifecycle for you in-house and provide you with fully valid, submission-ready sequences.

Contact us for more information or for help with building your eCTD now.

New EU MA Applications will require eCTD Submissions by Q3 2015

21st April 2015

Marketing Authorisation Applications for human use submitted using the Decentralised Procedure (DCP) will need to be provided electronically as eCTD by Q3 2015. Submission in eCTD for Mutual Recognition Procedures (MRP) will also be required by the start of 2017, and finally National Procedures by the start of 2018. eCTD is already required for Centralised Procedures.

The EMA also announced at the end of 2014 that Veterinary Drugs must be filed electronically starting in 2016 for CP/DCP, and all submissions by 2017 by VNeeS (Veterinary Non-eCTD Electronic Submissions).

Plans are also underway to replace the Microsoft Word-formatted application form with the eAF (Electronic Application Form) and the deadline will be Q1 2016. Further detailed guidance can be found under the following links:

European Medicines Regulatory Network eSubmission Roadmap

eSubmission Roadmap flow chart

Ivowen are fully eCTD-ready and compliant. Please contact us for more information and for support of your electronic applications.

Written by Laura Oakey

Points to note on the eAF

3rd February 2016

General

The eAF is mandatory for all procedures from 01/01/2016 (CP, MR, DC, National in eCTD/NeeS/Paper). However, Presubmission Meeting Requests, Article 61(3) & MAT forms remain the outside scope and can be submitted as paper or PDFs.

Please contact us if you require any assistance with any of the forms or any advice on any of the above procedures. For your convenience, the following is a summary of the important aspects of using the eAF.

Always check the e-submission website for the latest version of the eAF (http://esubmission.ema.europa.eu/eaf/)
- Word versions will be removed from Notice to Applicants in January 2016
- After 11/01/2016 only version 1.19 will be acceptable for new procedures
- eAF should be printed for Paper submissions
- Version 1.20 is planned for April 2016 (unless hotfixes are required before then)
- It is important to note, and welcome news, that there is no need to update to a newer version of the eAF in the middle of a procedure
- See the guidelines (update planned in January 2016) and release notes (lists the changes made to newer versions) for further information
- In line with the proposed move towards a Single Submission Portal (SSP) in place of CESP and the EMA Gateway, there are plans to reformat the eAF into a data capture system that can be submitted directly through CESP. This is in a very preliminary stage.

Technical queries should be sent to EMA Service Desk via IT service portal (login)
- Q&A documents should be consulted first
- Fast web view warning in the dossier validation report for the eAF can be ignored

Procedural queries should be directed to the National Competent Authority (NCA) (and response sent to EMA Service Desk). Complicated queries should be sent to both parties.

Webinars are available for the NCAs (to try to reduce the requests for MS specific national requirements)

Using the eAF

Technical Validation of the form (internal):
- Once signature is added and form validated, it is now locked. Locked forms cannot be amended. Therefore, the signature should be the last thing added to the form.
- Always keep a copy of the unlocked form so that amendments can be made (e.g. during preparation or for requests from NCA for updated forms during a procedure)
- Do not use bookmarks as these may cause invalidation issues

Annexes to the form should be filed separately in module 1.2 (do not use the PDF function to insert them into the eAF)
- Form should be named; cc-form-eaf-var
- Annex should be named; cc-form-annex-var (e.g. cc-form-5-19 or cc-form-proofpayment)

Electronic signature can be an image of a real signature (e.g. jpeg file – a scanned copy of wet signature. This however is not an electronic signature and is only used to close/lock the form) or can also be a line of text which states that signature is on file internally (e.g. “This form was authorised following company policies by Majella Ryan, Regulatory Affairs Manager of Ivowen with authorisation to sign. The signature is on file”)
- The eAF does not accommodate multiple signatures at present. A separate annex should be provided if multiple signatures are mandatory for a particular NCA. Multiple name sections will be incorporated into version 2.0 but no mention of whether multiple signatures will also be accommodated.
- The signature should be provided by the responsible MAH or can be provided by any authorised deputy
- Please also check national requirements for signatures.
- See Q&A guidance for further information

Workaround solutions (e.g. Annex B for multiple MAH or Product names) should always be mentioned in your cover letter
- Some unforeseen variations (category z) are not adequately accounted for yet. Details of such changes should be outlined in the scope section of form and in the cover letter.
- Duplicate sections only if products differ with regard to API or Pharmaceutical Form
- Annex A or Annex B can be used for multiple MAH or Product names. Click on Annex A/B button in form and add the annex as a separate file in Module 1.2
- Detailed instructions on how to use workaround solutions is available in the eAF Q&A document and the eAF Technical Guidance documents – both are published on the eAF webpage – if you need more advice contact EMA Service Desk.

No translations of the eAF are available, nor should they be requested.

Drug substances can be entered from controlled vocabulary lists or free text, and these each have different EV codes.
- The focus should be on using substance, product, organisation and referential (SPOR)

Request for New Terms:
- EUDRACT terminology used
- Use eAF Term Request form to request new terms
- Send it to mdms@ema.europa.eu only
- Response should be received within 5 working days

Strikethrough text function is not available in eAF but text can be copied and pasted (with text struck through) from Word or Outlook

In MRP/DCP one common application form is highly recommended, one per pharmaceutical form or strength for all member states in case of new MAA and one eAF for all involved products for all member states in case of variations and renewals.

Written by Majella Ryan

Update on the future of electronic submissions (eCTD)

8th June 2015

Ivowen recently attended the annual EuDRAcon conference in Lörrach, hosted by the German representative, Finkler.

[EuDRAcon is an abbreviation for European Drug Regulatory Affairs Consultants. It is a pan-European network of regulatory affairs consultancy companies dealing with drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and food supplements]

We began the event by voting in the newest member from Iceland, Ymir Vesteinsson (of Day Zero).

Slovenia was chosen to be EuDRAcon president for the next year. The Slovenian representative will host the next conference which is planned for 19^th/20^th May 2016

We were treated to two very interesting lectures, which sparked off some lively debate.

Dr. Kerstin Stephan (BfArM) discussed with us the topic of “Medicinal Product or Food Supplement? Demarcation from BfArM point of view” and Mr. B.V. Waalwijk introduced “The future of Regulatory data exchange”.

The latter discussion raises important issues for the Pharmaceutical Industry with regard to preparing for the future of electronic submission (as opposed to the digital version of paper files we use today). It is likely in the next 10-15 years that XML databases will begin to replace scanned copies of paper files, bringing us closer to fully compliant electronic dossier.

Ivowen can help you develop, maintain and update your electronic dossier today and into the future. Please contact us for further information.

Written Alice D’Alton

Tag Archive for: eCTD

Company Announcement – Majella Ryan FTOPRA

eCTD is coming…

What is the timetable?

We can help…

New EU MA Applications will require eCTD Submissions by Q3 2015

Points to note on the eAF

General

Using the eAF

Update on the future of electronic submissions (eCTD)

Need help with all the regulatory jargon?

Links

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