Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency (Text with EEA relevance)

• Celex Number: 32004R0726
• Coming into Force: 20 May 2004,20 November 2005,20 May 2008
• End of Effective Date: 31 December 9999
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/726/oj
• Published date: 30 April 2004
• Date: 31 March 2004
• Official Gazette Publication: Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 136, 30 de abril de 2004,Journal officiel de l’Union européenne, L 136, 30 avril 2004

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32004R0726

Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency (Text with EEA relevance)

Official Journal L 136 , 30/04/2004 P. 0001 - 0033

Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 31 March 2004

laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 and Article 152(4)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(2),

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3),

Whereas:

(1) Article 71 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 of 22 July 1993 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products(4) provides that, within six years of the entry into force of the Regulation, the Commission is to publish a general report on the experience acquired as a result of the operation of the procedures laid down in the Regulation.

(2) In the light of the Commission's report on the experience gained, it has proved necessary to improve the operation of the authorisation procedures for the placing of medicinal products on the market in the Community and to amend certain administrative aspects of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products. In addition, the name of that Agency should be simplified and changed to the European Medicines Agency, (hereinafter referred to as the "Agency").

(3) It emerges from the conclusions of that report that the amendments to be made to the centralised procedure set up by Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 consist of corrections to some of the operating procedures and adaptations to take account of the probable development of science and technology and the future enlargement of the European Union. It also emerges from the report that the general principles previously established which govern the centralised procedure should be maintained.

(4) Moreover, since the European Parliament and the Council have adopted Directive 2001/83/EC of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use(5) and Directive 2001/82/EC of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products(6), all the references to the codified Directives in Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 should be updated.

(5) For the sake of clarity, it is necessary to replace the said Regulation with a new Regulation.

(6) It is appropriate to preserve the Community mechanism set up by the repealed Community legislation for concertation prior to any national decision relating to a high-technology medicinal product.

(7) Experience gained since the adoption of Council Directive 87/22/EEC of 22 December 1986 on the approximation of national measures relating to the placing on the market of high-technology medicinal products, particularly those derived from biotechnology(7) has shown that it is necessary to create a centralised authorisation procedure that is compulsory for high-technology medicinal products, particularly those resulting from biotechnical processes, in order to maintain the high level of scientific evaluation of these medicinal products in the European Union and thus to preserve the confidence of patients and the medical professions in the evaluation. This is particularly important in the context of the emergence of new therapies, such as gene therapy and associated cell therapies, and xenogenic somatic therapy. This approach should be maintained, particularly with a view to ensuring the effective operation of the internal market in the pharmaceutical sector.

(8) With a view to harmonising the internal market for new medicinal products, this procedure should also be made compulsory for orphan medicinal products and any medicinal product for human use containing an entirely new active substance, i.e. one that has not yet been authorised in the Community, and for which the therapeutic indication is the treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, cancer, neurodegenerative disorder or diabetes. Four years after the date of entry into force of this Regulation, the procedure should also become compulsory for medicinal products for human use containing a new active substance, and for which the therapeutic indication is for the treatment of auto-immune diseases and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases. It should be possible to review the provisions in point 3 of the Annex via a simplified decision-making procedure not earlier than four years after the entry into force of this Regulation.

(9) As regards medicinal products for human use, optional access to the centralised procedure should also be provided for in cases where use of a single procedure produces added value for the patient. This procedure should remain optional for medicinal products which, although not belonging to the abovementioned categories, are nevertheless therapeutically innovative. It is also appropriate to allow access to this procedure for medicinal products which, although not innovative, may be of benefit to society or to patients if they are authorised from the outset at Community level, such as certain medicinal products which can be supplied without a medical prescription. This option may be extended to generic medicinal products authorised by the Community, provided that this in no way undermines either the harmonisation achieved when the reference medicinal product was evaluated or the results of that evaluation.

(10) In the field of veterinary medicinal products, administrative measures should be laid down in order to take account of the specific features of this field, particularly those due to the regional distribution of certain diseases. It should be possible to use the centralised procedure for the authorisation of veterinary medicinal products used within the framework of Community provisions regarding prophylactic measures for epizootic diseases. Optional access to the centralised procedure should be maintained for veterinary medicinal products containing a new active substance.

(11) For medicinal products for human use, the period for protection of data relating to pre-clinical tests and clinical trials should be the same as that provided for in Directive 2001/83/EC. For medicinal products for veterinary use, the period for protection of data relating to pre-clinical tests and clinical trials as well as safety and residue tests should be the same as that provided for in Directive 2001/82/EC.

(12) In order to reduce the cost for small and medium-sized enterprises of marketing medicinal products authorised via the centralised procedure, provisions should be adopted to allow for a reduction of fees, deferring the payment of fees, taking over responsibility for translations and offering administrative assistance in respect of these enterprises.

(13) In the interest of public health, authorisation decisions under the centralised procedure should be taken on the basis of the objective scientific criteria of quality, safety and efficacy of the medicinal product concerned, to the exclusion of economic and other considerations. However, Member States should be able exceptionally to prohibit the use in their territory of medicinal products for human use which infringe objectively defined concepts of public policy and public morality. Moreover, a veterinary medicinal product is not to be authorised by the Community if its use would contravene the rules laid down within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy or if presented for a use prohibited under other Community provisions, inter alia Directive 96/22/EC(8).

(14) Provision should be made for the quality, safety and efficacy criteria in Directives 2001/83/EC and 2001/82/EC to apply to medicinal products authorised by the Community and it should be possible to assess the risk-benefit balance of all medicinal products when they are placed on the market, at the time of the renewal of the authorisation and at any other time the competent authority deems appropriate.

(15) The Community is required, pursuant to Article 178 of the Treaty, to take account of the development policy aspects of any measure and to promote the creation of conditions fit for human beings worldwide. Pharmaceutical law should continue to ensure that only efficacious, safe and top-quality medicinal products are exported, and the Commission should consider creating further incentives to carry out research into medicinal products against widespread tropical diseases.

(16) There is also a need to provide for the ethical requirements of Directive 2001/20/EC of 4 April 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the implementation of good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use(9) to apply to medicinal products authorised by the Community. In particular, with respect to clinical trials conducted outside the Community on medicinal products destined to be authorised within the Community, at the time of the evaluation of the application for authorisation, it should be verified that these trials were conducted in accordance with the principles of good clinical practice and the ethical requirements...