The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) of the Council of Europe traces its origins and statutes to the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia (an international treaty adopted by the Council of Europe in 1964). The 37 member states and European Union (EU) that have signed the Convention are committed to achieving harmonisation of the quality of medicines throughout the European continent and beyond. This brochure presents the activities of the EDQM.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

Pharmaceutical Medicine and Translational Clinical Research covers clinical testing of medicines and the translation of pharmaceutical drug research into new medicines, also focusing on the need to understand the safety profile of medicine and the benefit-risk balance. Pharmacoeconomics and the social impact of healthcare on patients and public health are also featured. It is written in a clear and straightforward manner to enable rapid review and assimilation of complex information and contains reader-friendly features.As a greater understanding of these aspects is critical for students in the areas of pharmaceutical medicine, clinical research, pharmacology and pharmacy, as well as professionals working in the pharmaceutical industry, this book is an ideal resource. Includes detailed coverage of current trends and key topics in pharmaceutical medicine, including biosimilars, biobetters, super generics, and Provides a comprehensive look at current and important aspects of the science and regulation of drug and biologics discovery

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2021-547/ The Finnish presidency project on data exchange "Achieving the World's Smoothest Cross-Border Mobility and Daily Life Through Digitalisation" (2021–2023) has produced this baseline study report. The report outlines the current situation of cross-border data exchange between authorities in the Nordic and Baltic countries, while focusing on the three work packages of the presidency project: Studying in another Nordic-Baltic country, using health services in another Nordic-Baltic country, and the versatile use of the Nordic-Baltic legislative databases. Additionally, the barriers to cross-border data exchange was assessed based on the four interoperability layers of the European Interoperability Framework: legal, organisational, semantic and technical interoperability. The report will form the basis of the continued work of the presidency project.

This report presents the recommendations of a WHO Expert Committee commissioned to coordinate activities leading to the adoption of international recommendations for the production and control of vaccines and other biologicals and the establishment of international biological reference materials. The report starts with a discussion of general issues brought to the attention of the Committee and provides information on the status and development of reference materials for various antibodies, antigens, blood products and related substances, cytokines, growth factors, endocrinological substances and in vitro diagnostic devices. The second part of the report, of particular relevance to manufacturers and national regulatory authorities, contains revised WHO recommendations for production and control of live attenuated influenza vaccines and for production and control of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. New WHO guidelines on the regulatory evaluation of similar biotherapeutic medicines are also provided. Also included are a list of recommendations, guidelines and other documents for biological substances used in medicine, and of international standards and reference reagent for biological substances.