For all UK MAs, including those that cover the whole of the UK or are specific to Northern Ireland or to Great Britain, the marketing authorisation holder (MAH) must have permanently and continuously at its disposal a QPPV who resides and operates anywhere in the UK or in the EU/EEA, and is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the pharmacovigilance system (“the UK QPPV”). Where the QPPV is not in the UK, there will be a need for a national contact person for pharmacovigilance as set out below.
This is provided for by regulation 182 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended) (HMR).
For MAs that cover the whole of the UK or are specific to Northern Ireland, the legal requirements concerning the qualifications and responsibilities of the QPPV that are outlined in Article 10 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 520/2012 (CIR) will remain unchanged.
For MAs that are specific to Great Britain, legal requirements concerning the qualifications and responsibilities of the QPPV are outlined in paragraph 10 of HMR Schedule 12A (inserted by the EU Exit Regulations 2019), which mirrors Article 10 of CIR.
Statutory guidance concerning the QPPV for UK authorised products is described in the Good Pharmacovigilance Practices (GVP) Module I. This guidance is supplemented by the Exceptions and modifications to the EU guidance on good pharmacovigilance practices that apply to UK marketing authorisation holders.
There is no temporary exemption as to the requirement to have a QPPV who resides and operates in the UK or the EU/EEA and is responsible for the pharmacovigilance system for UK authorised products.
