PV Bulletin

EMA steps up efforts on medicines for women’s health

EMA is launching new initiatives focusing on better integration of women’s health considerations into medicines development and regulation.

Primary source: OECD/EU report, Health at a glance: Europe 2024

PV Impact Brief

Urgency: HighConfidence: high

What changed

MAHs and sponsors can expect enhanced requirements for pregnancy-specific safety signals and new methodological guidance for safety studies in pregnant populations.

Why it matters

These initiatives will likely improve drug safety assessments for women, particularly regarding pregnancy and breastfeeding, ensuring better health outcomes for this demographic.

Action needed

Incorporate enhanced requirements for monitoring pregnancy-specific safety signals into existing pharmacovigilance practices.

Relevant for
Regulatory Intelligence LeadSignal Management LeadQPPV
Processes impacted
Signal ManagementLiterature SurveillanceCountry Compliance
Owner

Regulatory Intelligence Lead

Review cadence

Review in the next regulatory intelligence cycle.

Policy change details

Document type
Notice
Policy status
new
Publication date
2026-07-02
Policy change
EMA is launching new initiatives to better integrate women’s health considerations into medicines development and regulation, focusing on representation in trials, sex-specific assessment, pregnancy, and real-world evidence.

Key changes

Initiatives include detailed analyses of CTIS data for women's representation, improving methods for pregnancy-specific safety signal detection, developing pregnancy pharmacoepidemiologic methodological guidance, and strengthening pharmacovigilance practices with specific guidelines for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Affected workflows

Signal ManagementLiterature SurveillanceCountry Compliance

Responsible groups

Pharmacovigilance TeamsSafety ScientistsClinical Development

PV impact

MAHs and sponsors can expect enhanced requirements for pregnancy-specific safety signals, new methodological guidance for safety studies in pregnant populations, and updated PV practices for monitoring safety in women.

View regulator source

Source document details

Evidence and confidence

Confidence: highSource updated: Jul 2, 2026

Full briefing

Practical implication

Incorporate enhanced requirements for monitoring pregnancy-specific safety signals into existing pharmacovigilance practices.

The European Medicines Agency is enhancing its focus on women's health in medicine by launching initiatives aimed at improving clinical trial representation, developing pregnancy-specific safety assessment methods, and strengthening pharmacovigilance guidelines.

What changed: MAHs and sponsors can expect enhanced requirements for pregnancy-specific safety signals and new methodological guidance for safety studies in pregnant populations.

Why it matters: These initiatives will likely improve drug safety assessments for women, particularly regarding pregnancy and breastfeeding, ensuring better health outcomes for this demographic.

Practical implication: Incorporate enhanced requirements for monitoring pregnancy-specific safety signals into existing pharmacovigilance practices.

View original source

Published from the Firecrawl policy change extraction pipeline.

Related updates for your role

publicFDA · USA · Updated Sep 4, 2026

FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Etcamah for Advanced Breast Cancer

Urgency: High

Regulatory teams must prepare for updating labeling to include details on the new indication and required diagnostic methods, along with planning for the confirmatory studies mandated by the FDA.

Signal ManagementLabelingRegulatory Intelligence Lead
SOP Impact2 SOPs
ConfidenceHigh
Relevant for: Regulatory Intelligence Lead
verifiedRegulatory action: Regulators
Read impact briefarrow_forward
publicMHRA · UK · Updated Sep 4, 2026

Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026

Urgency: High

Organizations must re-evaluate roles related to children's activities and prepare to request Enhanced DBS checks including access to the Children’s Barred List check starting from 1 September 2026.

Country ComplianceRegulatory Intelligence Lead
SOP Impact1 SOPs
ConfidenceHigh
Relevant for: Regulatory Intelligence Lead
verifiedRegulatory action: Regulators
Read impact briefarrow_forward
publicUK Health Security Agency · UK · Updated Sep 7, 2026

Low Flu Vaccination Rates Among Primary School Children

Urgency: High

Parents are reminded to complete and return flu vaccination consent forms promptly as vaccination sessions in schools are set to start this week, aiming for completion by late November.

Signal ManagementPV Quality Lead
SOP Impact1 SOPs
ConfidenceHigh
Relevant for: PV Quality Lead, Medical Safety Lead
verifiedRegulatory action: Regulators
Read impact briefarrow_forward
publicANSM (France) · France · Updated Sep 7, 2026Translated From French

Recall of Gore Viabahn Endoprosthesis with Bioactive Heparin Coating

Urgency: High

Health establishments receiving affected devices must be notified, and protocols established to ensure compliance with the recall.

Signal ManagementQPPV
SOP Impact1 SOPs
ConfidenceHigh
Relevant for: QPPV, Medical Safety Lead
verifiedRegulatory action: Regulators
Read impact briefarrow_forward