IDMP – Identification of Medicinal Products

In February 2020, EMA has released the version 1 of the EU ISO IDMP Implementation Guideline (EU IG v1). With this release, EMA is providing the information about the implementation requirements of the ISO IDMP standards and terminologies in the EU.

The EU IG v1 contains the following chapters:

• Introduction: Introduction, legal basis and scope of the EU IG for implementation of ISO IDMP
• Chapter 1 – Pre-registration requirements: Guidance on how to get access to SPOR and what to do prior to submission
• Chapter 2 – Initial submission: Guidance on which medicinal product information (data fields and business rules) shall be submitted
• Chapter 6 – Technical specifications on structure and format: Technical specifications for the API, contains description of principles, security, resources, calls, end-points
• Chapter 7 – Migration guide: migration rules between xEVMPD and PMS including backwards compatibility rules

Therefore this version provides the basis of the mandatory data elements for Iteration 1 of ISO IDMP and how the migration from xEVMPD to ISO IDMP will be managed.

Next steps for the full implementation of Iteration 1 of ISO IDMP will be the release of EU Implementation Guidance v2, including the rest of the chapters and defining the business processes. This version won’t be released before February 2021.

Once this version 2 is released, Industry will have two years to see IDMP mandatory: one year implementation period for optional use of ISO IDMP, followed by a 1 year implementation period before ISO IDMP becomes mandatory.

Tasks that companies need to perform for ISO IDMP and Asphalion can support with:

• Data collection / extraction
• Data verification
• Data mapping and cleaning
• Tool review and selection (RFP, RFI)
• Tool and process adaptation and implementation
• Data mapping with SPOR master data
• GAP analysis of IDMP readiness

Given the above tasks that lie ahead for any pharmaceutical company, it is important to start as soon as possible to make an estimation of the effort in order to comply.

Asphalion has a dedicated team for ISO IDMP and is in direct contact with EMA and involved in the review of the EU Implementation Guide.

RIM – Regulatory Information Management

In order to comply with ISO IDMP, but even more importantly in order to optimize processes within a pharmaceutical company, a Regulatory Information Management (RIM) system is a vital element.

There are many different RIM solutions on the market and for a pharmaceutical company it is important to select a RIM solution that fits it’s needs. Not a single Pharma company is the same, with regards to the number of Marketing Authorisations, type of products, region of activities, manufacturer of finished product and/or active substance, etc.

As the implementation of a RIM solution is time consuming and involves a significant investment, it is important to make a proper selection of the final technical solution based on the requirements and needs.

Asphalion as a software independent company can support with an objective evaluation of the different RIM systems and needs of companies.

Asphalion supports: