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On September 8th, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released their final guidance for industry on the ICH E6(R3) Good Clinical Practice (GCP). ICH E6(R3) Principles and Annex 1 were finalized on January 6th, 2025, officially taking over the preceding 2016 ICH E6(R2). Annex 2 is expected to be finalized in early 2026.
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On December 15th, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the finalized guidance for industry “Investigator Responsibilities — Safety Reporting for Investigational Drugs and Devices”. Unlike most updates, this finalized guidance is replacing the FDA’s recommendations from two separate final guidance documents: “Safety Reporting Requirements for INDs and BA/BE Studies” from 2012 and “Adverse Event Reporting to IRBs—Improving Human Subject Protection” from 2009, both of which are now withdrawn.
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On July 7, 2025, the European Union (EU) Commission and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) published an updated draft of Annex 11: Computerised Systems, a supplementary guideline that is part of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Although it is GMP focused, the guiding principles of the annex can also be applied to other GxP standards.
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In July, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to an investigator conducting a clinical trial for pediatric participants. The warning letter was the result of a routine inspection part of the FDA’s Bioresearch Monitoring Program (BIMO) as well as the investigator’s written response to the Form FDA 483.
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On August 27, 2025, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released a Draft International Standard (DIS) for the ISO 9001:2026 Quality Management Systems (QMS) to ISO member bodies for a twelve-week review and ballot period. The goal of ISO 9001 is to help organizations create and maintain consistency of their products or services and seeks to improve and refine their internal processes and procedures to increase efficiency.
International Council of Harmonization
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On September 8th, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released their final guidance for industry on the ICH E6(R3) Good Clinical Practice (GCP). ICH E6(R3) Principles and Annex 1 were finalized on January 6th, 2025, officially taking over the preceding 2016 ICH E6(R2). Annex 2 is expected to be finalized in early 2026.
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On June 4, 2025 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) posted a guideline titled: ICH E21 Guideline on inclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding individuals in clinical trials. Individuals who are pregnant or breastfeeding make up a significant portion of the world’s population, however, the European Union (EU) reports that less than 0.4% of clinical trials currently submitted to the EU include pregnant people and only 0.1% include lactating individuals. This guideline highlights the importance of including these individuals as well as the steps that should be taken in order to ensure their safety during a trial.
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On December 30, 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the draft guidance for industry titled “Protocol Deviations for Clinical Investigations of Drugs, Biological Products, and Devices” to help trial sponsors, investigators, and institutional review boards (IRB) define, identify, and report protocol deviations.
