Current state of biologic pharmacovigilance in the European Union: improvements are needed

Introduction: Pharmacovigilance is essential to monitoring the safety profiles of authorized medicines. Compared with small-molecule drugs, biological drugs are more complex, more susceptible to structural variability due to manufacturing processes, and have the potential to induce immune-related reactions, underscoring the importance of safety monitoring for these products. Although highly similar to reference products, biosimilars are not expected to be structurally identical. For these reasons, proper reporting of potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs) using distinguishable names and batch numbers is essential for accurate tracing of all biological drugs. To address the need for robust pharmacovigilance, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union provided legislation regarding pharmacovigilance of biologics in 2010.

Areas covered: This narrative review examines the current state of pharmacovigilance for biologics in the European Union (EU) and discusses relevant information on pharmacovigilance of biosimilars, the current EU pharmacovigilance system, and areas that could be improved.

Expert opinion: Although steps have been taken to improve pharmacovigilance of biologics in the EU, several enhancements can still be made, including additional training for healthcare professionals on ADR reporting, the use of 2D barcodes that enhance traceability, and an open discussion of potentially missed opportunities in the pharmacovigilance of biosimilars.     

脑卒中患者急性应激障碍及影响因素研究

目的探讨脑卒中患者急性应激障碍发生现状及影响因素。方法采用斯坦福急性应激反应问卷对349例脑卒中住院患者进行调查。结果共163例(46.70%)患者发生急性应激障碍;Logistic回归分析结果显示,患者性格、是否存在偏瘫及是否吞咽功能障碍是脑卒中患者发生急性应激障碍的主要影响因素(P0.05,P0.01)。结论脑卒中患者急性应激障碍发生率较高,内向性格及存在偏瘫和吞咽功能障碍的患者更容易发生急性应激障碍。医护人员应及时为高危患者提供个体化治疗及预见性护理,防止脑卒中患者发生急性应激障碍。     

The Impact of a Healthy Weight Intervention Embedded in a Home-Visiting Program on Children's Weight and Mothers’ Feeding Practices

Objective

To examine whether a healthy weight intervention embedded in the Parents as Teachers (PAT) home visiting program, which was previously found to improve mothers’ body mass index (BMI) and obesity-related behaviors, changed the BMI of preschool children or maternal feeding practices.

The proteome microenvironment determines the protective effect of preconditioning in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury

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