Semler
- Procedure started
- Under evaluation
- CHMP opinion
- European Commission final decision
Table of contents
Overview
EMA recommends suspension of medicines over flawed studies at Semler Research Centre
Bioequivalence studies performed at the site cannot be used to support medicines approval in the EU
On 21 July 2016, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended suspending a number of nationally approved medicines for which bioequivalence studies were conducted at Semler Research Centre Private Ltd, Bangalore, India. The Agency also recommended that medicines being evaluated for authorisation and which rely only on bioequivalence studies from this site should not be authorised until bioequivalence is demonstrated using alternative data. Bioequivalence studies usually form the basis for approval of generic medicines.
The
list of medicines recommended for suspension
is available.
EMA's review followed an FDA inspection1 that identified several issues at Semler's bioanalytical site, including the substitution and manipulation of subjects' clinical samples. The World Health Organization (WHO) also raised serious concerns2 regarding data integrity and manipulation of study samples following its own inspections of Semler's bioanalytical and clinical sites.
The findings from FDA and WHO inspections called into question the quality management system in place at Semler, and thus the reliability of the data of all bioequivalence studies, including those used to support marketing authorisation applications in the EU. EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded that the studies conducted at Semler cannot be accepted in marketing authorisation applications in the EU. Thus, no medicines can be approved on the basis of these studies.
During the evaluation, alternative studies were provided for some of these medicines. These studies show bioequivalence, and therefore, the CHMP recommended that these medicines can remain on the market. The
list of medicines recommended to remain on the market
is available.
Some of the medicines which have been recommended for suspension may be of critical importance (e.g. due to lack of available alternatives) in a given EU Member State. Therefore national authorities can temporarily postpone the suspension in the interest of patients. Member States should also decide whether recalls of the affected medicines are needed in their territories.
The CHMP's recommendation concerning these medicines was sent to the European Commission for a legally binding decision valid throughout the EU.
2WHO pre-qualification team - Inpections Services - Notice of concern.
Key facts
Approved name |
Semler
|
Reference number |
EMEA/H/A-31/1443
|
Type | |
Status |
European Commission final decision
|
Opinion date |
21/07/2016
|
EC decision date |
22/09/2016
|
All documents
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List item
Semler Article-31 referral – EMA recommends suspension of medicines over flawed studies at Semler Research Centre (PDF/90.43 KB)
First published: 22/07/2016
Last updated: 17/11/2016
EMA/489380/2016 -
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List item
Semler Article-31 referral – CHMP assessment report (PDF/159.75 KB)
First published: 17/11/2016
Last updated: 17/11/2016
EMA/633696/2016 -
List item
Semler Article-31 referral – Annex IA and IB (PDF/276.65 KB)
First published: 03/05/2016
Last updated: 17/11/2016
EMA/314147/2016 Corr. 6 -
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List item
Semler Article-31 referral – Annex II (PDF/45.58 KB)
First published: 17/11/2016
Last updated: 17/11/2016 -
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List item
Semler Article-31 referral – Annex III (PDF/18.9 KB)
First published: 17/11/2016
Last updated: 17/11/2016 -
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List item
Semler Article-31 referral – Review started (PDF/77.2 KB)
First published: 29/04/2016
Last updated: 29/04/2016 -
List item
Semler Article-31 referral – CHMP list of questions (PDF/68.74 KB)
Adopted
First published: 29/04/2016
Last updated: 29/04/2016 -
List item
Semler Article-31 referral – CHMP list of questions to Semler research centre (PDF/69.19 KB)
Adopted
First published: 29/04/2016
Last updated: 29/04/2016 -
List item
Semler Article-31 referral – Timetable for the procedure (PDF/68.24 KB)
First published: 29/04/2016
Last updated: 29/04/2016 -
List item
Semler Article-31 referral – Notification (PDF/178.16 KB)
First published: 29/04/2016
Last updated: 29/04/2016
Document description
- Questions and answers (Q&A) - easy-to-understand summary of key issues and Committee conclusions
- Summary of Opinion - contains the CHMP opinion of the referred medicine(s)
- List of the medicines affected by the referral (Annex I)
- Scientific conclusions of the Committee (Annex II)
The following two documents are sometimes available:
- Changes to the summary of product characteristics, labeling or package leaflet (also known as Annex III) - available when changes havebeen recommended by the Committee
- Conditions of the marketing authorisation (also known as Annex IV) - available when the Committee recommends measures to be takenfor the marketing authorisation(s) such as safety measures or extra studies
News
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22/07/2016
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22/07/2016
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29/04/2016