Update on prequalification of medicines

Procurement and supply management workshop

Nairobi, Kenya
February 2006

Presented by
Rutendo Kuwana
Temporary Adviser – Prequalification Project
For Quality Assurance and Safety: Medicines
Medicines Policy and Standards

1
 Is quality of medicines a problem?

Substandard drugs is a big problem - antibiotics, antimalarials,

antituberculosis and antiretroviral drugs included
Incorrect
ingredient Percentage breakdown of
16% data on 325 cases of
substandard drugs -
Incorrect reported from around the
amount world to WHO database
17%

No active
ingredient
Other errors 60%
7%

Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,

Health
2 Technology and Pharmaceuticals
 Prequalification of essential medicines

 The UN prequalification program is an action plan for expanding

access for the hardest hit by

 HIV/AIDS

 Tuberculosis

 Malaria

 by ensuring quality, efficacy and safety of medicines procured

using international donor funds (e.g. GFTAM)

Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,

Health
3 Technology and Pharmaceuticals
 Why the prequalification is needed
 Problems
• Millions of people living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, have no or limited access to treatment
• Substandard and counterfeit products in different countries

 Reality

• Weak or absent QA systems of medicines supply chain

• Lot of money invested in procurement

no harmonized quality assurance system available for
procurement organizations/initiatives yet;
products with very different quality sourced
 Risks
• Sourcing of poor quality products or even counterfeit
medicines
 risk to patients, toxic reactions, treatment failure, resistance
Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,
Health
4 Technology and Pharmaceuticals
 Prequalification basic principles

 Voluntary for participating manufacturers

 Legitimate - General procedure and standards approved through
WHO Expert Committee system involving all WHO Member States
and WHO Governing bodies
 Widely discussed
• FIP Congress, Nice 2002
• Supported by International Conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities
(ICDRA) in 2002 and 2004, representing more than 100 national drug
regulatory authorities
 Transparent (all information available on the web site
http://mednet3.who.int/prequal/ )
 Open to both innovators and multisource/generic manufacturers
 No cost for applicants as per today (in future fees considered)

Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,

Health
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 Expected outcome of prequalification

 Public lists of products and manufacturing units

• Meeting international norms and standards on quality, safety, and efficacy
 Capacity building and harmonization
• National Drug Regulatory Authorities (DRAs), manufacturers, WHO treatment programs,
NGOs, procurement organizations
 Ongoing quality monitoring
• Ongoing monitoring of prequalified products
• Prequalification of quality control laboratories (pilot project, focus on AFRO at present with 3
QC labs prequalified – see web site for more information
 Facilitate access to treatment
• Through fair procurement mechanisms (e.g. tender, competition based on the same quality
standards)
• WHO commitment to developing better access to quality medicines

Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,

Health
6 Technology and Pharmaceuticals
 How prequalification is organized?
 Role of WHO: Managing and organizing the project on behalf of the
United Nations.
• provides technical and scientific support and guarantee that
international norms and standards are applied all through the
process including assessment, inspection (GMP, GCP, GLP) and
quality control
 Partners:
• UNICEF, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UNAIDS and with the
support of the World Bank
• Anti-malarial and anti-TB products: Roll Back Malaria and Stop TB
(Global Drug Facility); HIV/AIDS Department
 Actors: Mainly qualified assessors and inspectors from National
DRAs (also from National Quality Control Laboratories) of ICH and
associated countries, and inspectorates belonging to PIC/S

Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,

Health
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 Steps of prequalification

1. Expression of interest (EOI) from a prospective supplier interested

in a voluntary participation in the program.
2. Comprehensive notes and guidelines are published on the WEB in
order to explain how to bring together a product dossier meeting the
requirements for prequalification.
3. Receipt of the dossier at UNICEF in Copenhagen and the Site
Master File in WHO Geneva.
4. Screening of the dossier, "Quality" part, "Clinical" part and samples.
Listed for possible inspection
5. Assessment of the dossier and writing of the assessment report
and assessment letter.
6. Outcome of the evaluation communicated to supplier

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 Steps of prequalification cont…

7.Inspection of the site(s) of manufacturing and follow-up inspection

when necessary  GMP compliant list of manufacturers
8.Inspection of the Research Laboratory or Contract Research
Laboratory (CRO) where the bioequivalence study has been
performed  GCP compliant list of CROs
9.Conclusion and listing of the product in the prequalification list
10.Publication of the WHO Public Assessment and Inspection Reports
(WHOPARs and WHOPIRs)
11.Assessment of the variation when submitted, market survey,
de-listing if necessary
12.Re-qualification after 3 years

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 Assessment procedure

 Assessment of products dossiers i.e. quality

specifications, pharmaceutical development,
bioequivalence etc.
 teams of professionals from national drug regulatory authorities (DRA): Brazil,
China, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Spain, South-Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, UK, Zimbabwe ...

 Copenhagen assessment week

• 8 to 16 assessors together during one week at least every two months at
UNICEF in Copenhagen
• Every dossier is assessed by at least two assessors.
• An assessment report is issued; signed by two assessors
• Letter summarizing the findings and asking for clarification and additional data if
necessary
• Letter is sent first by e-mail to the applicant followed by surface mail

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Health
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 Assessment procedure-Product dossiers

 Innovator products
• Abridged procedure if approved by stringent authorities like EMEA and US
FDA
• Assessment report from DRAs, WHO Certificate of Pharmaceutical
Product (CPP), batch certificate, update on changes
• Trusting scientific expertise of well-established DRAs
 Multisource products (generics)
• Full dossier with all data and information requested
• Quality : information on starting materials and finished product including
API details, specifications, stability data, formulation, manufacturing
method, packaging, labelling etc
• Efficacy and safety: Bio-equivalence study or clinical study report
• US FDA tentative approvals for ARVs – recognition of scientific
assessment based on information exchange (Confidentiality
agreement between US FDA and WHO); the same approach will soon
apply for EU Art58 and Canadian JCPA procedure)
 Commercial sample
 Requested, but not always analysed before prequalification.

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 Prequalification: generics or not?

 FDA requirements for generic drugs (www.fda.gov/cder/ogd)

 Generic drugs must:
1. contain the same active ingredients as the innovator drug
2. be identical in strength, dosage form, and route of administration
3. have the same use/indications
4. meet the same batch requirements for identity , strength, purity and quality
5. be manufactured under the same strict standards of GMP required for innovator
products.
6. be bio-equivalent
 Prequalification requirements for generics – in line with major
regulatory agencies
 What if not generics – full data set to prove the safety (including pre-
clinical toxicology) and efficacy has to be presented
 Not all non-innovator products in prequalification pipeline can be
defined as generics – no innovator may be available

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Health
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 Inspection procedure

 Inspections
 Manufacturing site (final product, packaging)
 Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)
 Research laboratory or Contract Research Organization (CRO)
 Teamwork of inspectors
• WHO representative (qualified GMP inspector)
• Inspector from well-established inspectorate (Pharmaceutical
Inspection Cooperation Scheme countries – PIC/S)
• National inspector(s) invited to be part of the team but have NO
decision making power (different GMP standards, potential conflict of
interest)
 Quality control analysis - upon need, but not always necessarily
before prequalification and supply, increasingly as part of proactive
follow-up
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 Capacity building (Training activities)

 In 2005 three one week comprehensive training courses on quality of

TB drugs and ARVs (Malaysia, China, Ukraine)
 Three GMP training courses (South-Africa, China)
 Upcoming GMP training course in Tanzania (with PQ participation)
 Training of QC lab officials
 Specific to antimalarial medicines (ACTs): training courses for
regulators and industries (in 2004 - Thailand, in January 2006 - China)
 All training course materials are posted on the web site to assist
manufacturers to prepare quality dossiers and readiness for inspections

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 Current status – September 2005

 Started with HIV/AIDS products in 2001 – malaria and TB

products joined later

 Prequalified products (Jan 2006) Dossiers in pipeline

(2005)
• 107 HIV related medicines - 289 (Feb-05) 316 (Aug -05)
• 8 anti-tuberculosis medicines - 153 156
• 3 anti-malarial medicines - 46 48
• 108 488 520

 Ongoing assessments and follow-up

• Products
• Manufacturing sites (both for APIs and finished dosage forms)
• CROs

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 Problems encountered with products containing
artemisinin derivatives (I)
 General
 Very few innovator products
 Many not typical generics as well
 Very few antimalarials recommended by treatment guidelines approved in ICH
and associated countries
 Limited DRAs and regulatory experts having experience with antimalarials
 Fixed dose combinations more complicated than single component products
 Quality related issues
 Manufacturers do not comply with GMP (even if located in the EU – products
not registered and produced only for export)
 Many dossiers have outstanding deficiencies in proving the quality of the
product – non-compliance with established specifications or poorly defined
manufacturers specifications; stability data either missing or not meeting
requirements; no method validation etc.

 Mostly manufacturers can overcome these problems if motivated.

However, it may take a lot of time

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Health
16 Technology and Pharmaceuticals
 Problems encountered with products containing
artemisinin derivatives (II)
 Lack of reference products for bioequivalence studies
 For generic drugs safety and efficacy is proved by bioequivalence studies assuming
that the same blood concentrations of active ingredient give the same safety and
efficacy profile
 Only exceptions are artesunate from Guilin Pharma and the Novartis FDC product
(artemether+lumefantrine)
 Safety and efficacy related issues
 Insufficient reporting of the evidence about the clinical efficacy and safety.....
 No fully documented trial reports
 No full evaluation of published literature
 No characterisation of pharmacokinetic properties of the product: for innovators and generics as
well unacceptable
 General statements: No interaction known -> clearly not true; No (or minimal) adverse events:
information has to be provided through literature survey if no original data
 Too broad efficacy claims
 Galenical development history not provided -> Do results of earlier studies apply to
current formulation?
 More difficult as many manufacturers involved have no experience in these
areas

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 Other Issues

 Costs of FDCs may not be as expected – e.g. TB medicines

with high production costs due to pharmaceutical
interactions and stability issues (Rifampicin + Isoniazid …)
 Prequalification with short shelf life – limited data but
ongoing trials
 Few paediatric formulations – 6th EOI includes them

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 Measures taken to get more products prequalified

 General
 Very limited resources
 PQ programme started with only ONE professional, today it has three
and by the end of 2006 it will have at least six (three will be
secondments from Governments)
 Business plan created and funding proposals created
 Specific
 Internal SOPs and work procedures to facilitate process created
 Specific for antimalarials "Note for Applicants" prepared
 More direct discussions with manufacturers started
 Additional work that could help manufacturers under way
 Specific training workshops for manufacturers producing antimalarials
organized

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 Summary and conclusion

 Good news
 Relatively large number of products and suppliers comply with the standards
(mostly ARVs so far)
 Many potential suppliers appreciating feedback and willing to improve
 Unique technical knowledge obtained about products, especially about
generic antiretrovirals and antimalarials

 Bad news
 Only limited number of products have met the required standards (especially
malaria products)
 Takes time to get into compliance
• Data to be generated, tests to be carried out …
• GMP upgrade needed
 Bad quality (generic) products may undermine the public confidence
 Quality has its price

Department of Medicines Policy and Standards,

Health
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http://mednet3.who.int/prequal/