Algeria issues New GVP Guideline

Things are changing fast in Algeria: It has only been a few months since a Note was published to describe revised Safety Reporting requirements (see Post) and the Algerian Authorities have now published a full Pharmacovigilance Guide with new changes to expedited reporting requirements.

The new Guide was produced by the "Centre National de Pharmacovigilance et de Materiovigilance" (CNPM) and includes a description of the local Pharmacovigilance System in Algeria. It covers the role of the stakeholders and includes a description of the obligations applicable to the Pharma Industry.

Among other topics, the Guide describes the expectations regarding the appointment of a Local Contact Person for Pharmacovigilance and for the maintenance and provision of the Pharmacovigilance System Master File (PSMF). The topics covered also include Procedures, Audits and Inspections, RMPs and PBRERs/PSURs, as well as Signal Management.

Regarding the Safety Reporting requirements, the Note published in June 2019 (see Post) reduced drastically the number of ICSRs that required submission in Algeria by removing the obligation to include foreign ICSRs. The new Guide brings yet more changes when compared to the June 2019 Note and here is a summary of the resulting applicable ICSR reporting requirements:

- Post-Marketing ICSRs, including cases originating from Non-Interventional Studies, must be submitted to the CNPM as follows:

• Domestic Serious ADRs: within 15 Calendar Days

• Domestic Non-Serious ADRs: within 90 Calendar Days

• All Foreign ADRs: through the PBRERs/PSURs

- Clinical Trials ICSRs must be submitted to the CNPM and Ethics Committees as follows:

• Domestic Fatal/Life-Threatening SARs: initial report within 7 Calendar Days

• Other Domestic SARs: within 15 Calendar Days

• All Foreign ICSRs: through Annual DSURs

In other words, compared to the Note published in June 2019, there is no longer a requirement to submit Domestic Fatal/Life-Threatening Post-Marketing ADRs in 7 Days.
On the other hand, the requirements for Clinical Trials ICSRs now includes all SARs, whether they are unexpected (i.e. SUSARs) or not.

The Guide produced by the CNPM is only available in French and is unfortunately not available on the website of the Agency. The copy shared here was obtained from a contact in Algeria and user of this blog, whom I would like to thank for notifying me of this new and important guidance.

   → Link to CNPM 2019 Pharmacovigilance Guide (in French)

   → Link to the CNPM website

   → For reference: Link to CNPM Note dated 03-Jun-2019 (in French)

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Thierry Hamard is a Pharmacist with more than 15 years of Global Pharmacovigilance Auditing experience and over 200 PV Audits performed since his company PV Focus was established in 2004.

Thierry is also Chief Editor of Safety Observer, a provider of Regulatory Intelligence services for Pharmacovigilance since 2005.

Algeria updates Pharmacovigilance reporting requirements

ATTENTION !! UPDATE 09-Jan-2020:
This post is no longer current as the CNPM has published a new Pharmacovigilance Guide with revised ICSR reporting requirements (see New Post). The content of this post includes the resulting revisions (in Red & Highlighted in Yellow).


The Algerian Authorities have published an important revision of the Note describing the Pharmacovigilance reporting requirements in the country.

Until now, the "Centre National de Pharmacovigilance et de Materiovigilance" (CNPM) required that all Serious ICSRs and Clinical Trial SUSARs be submitted, including foreign reports. This meant that thousands of ICSRs qualified for reporting to the CNPM in Algeria, even though it is doubtful that the CNPM had sufficient resources to process such large volumes of information.

The Note published by the CNPM and dated 03-Jun-2019 will come as a relief to international companies placing medicinal products on the market in Algeria: The expedited reporting of foreign ICSRs is no longer a requirement and those cases are now only expected to be presented through the applicable periodic reports.

As a summary in English, here are the newly applicable requirements in Algeria:

- Post-Marketing ADRs, including cases originating from Non-Interventional Studies, must be submitted to the CNPM as follows:

• Domestic Fatal/Life-Threatening ADRs: as soon as possible, within 7 Calendar Days
• Other Domestic Serious ADRs: within 15 Calendar Days
• Domestic Non-Serious ADRs: within 90 Calendar Days
• All Foreign ADRs: through the PBRERs/PSURs

The Note also now clearly states that the submission of PBRERs/PSURs can be aligned with the EURD List.


- Clinical Trials SUSARs must be submitted to the CNPM and Ethics Committees as follows:

• Domestic Fatal/Life-Threatening SUSARs: initial report within 7 Calendar Days
• Other Domestic SUSARs: within 15 Calendar Days
• All Foreign SUSARs: through 6-monthly Line Listings and Annual DSURs

As described in a recent article in the "Drug Safety" journal, the Algerian CNPM has not adopted the GVP Guideline for Arab countries published in 2014. With a 7-Day reporting requirement for Fatal/Life-Threatening ADRs, these new Requirements still deviate from the Arab GVPs and the underlying ICH E2D Guideline. Nevertheless, this revision represents a significant move towards international harmonization and will make compliance easier to achieve for the Industry in Algeria.

The Note issued by the CNPM is only available in French and is unfortunately not available on the website of the Agency. We obtained a copy from the CNPM, which we make available here, together with the previous version as a reference.

   → Link to CNPM Note dated 03-Jun-2019 (in French)

   → Link to the CNPM website

   → For reference: Link to CNPM Note dated 20-Oct-2017 (in French)

   → Link to Drug Safety article: “Pharmacovigilance Systems in Arab Countries”

   → Link to Guideline on GVP for Arab Countries (Version 2 – December 2014)

_______________________________________

Thierry Hamard is a Pharmacist with more than 15 years of Global Pharmacovigilance Auditing experience and over 200 PV Audits performed since his company PV Focus was established in 2004.

Thierry is also Chief Editor of Safety Observer, a provider of Regulatory Intelligence services for Pharmacovigilance since 2005.