The Implementation of a Risk-Based Assessment Approach by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).

backgroundAn extensive backlog of pending regulatory decisions is one of the major historical challenges that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) inherited from the Medicine Control Council (MCC). Revising and implementing new regulatory pathways is one of the strategic mechanisms that SAHPRA employs to circumvent this problem.

objectivesTo alleviate the backlog, the use of a new review pathway termed the risk-based review on the scientific quality and bioequivalence assessments was explored. The objective of the study was to articulate the risk-based assessment (RBA) pathway, to determine robust criteria for the classification of the levels of risk for medicines, and to define the improved process to be followed in the assessment and approval of medicines.

methodsIn 2015, an extensive exercise was conducted by SAHPRA to identify the unknown status of in-process applications. The RBA pilot project commenced in 2016 and further piloted in 2021 using the knowledge gained from the 2016 study for optimisation of efficiency.

resultsBy 2015 the backlog was quantified as 7902 applications in the pre-registration phase. The 2015 project entailed two phases. The initial phase was conducted to identify the status of 3505 in-process applications, which resulted in the registration of 198 applications. The second phase commenced in 2016 on 4397 applications not yet reviewed whereby the RBA approach was explored. With the developed criteria for risk classification and refined end-to-end registration process, the pilot resulted in a finalisation time with a median value of 90 calendar days and a median approval time of 109 calendar days. The throughput of the RBA pilot study conducted in 2021 was 68 calendar days finalisation time for the 63 applications used. These finalisation times are lower in comparison to the 501 calendar days for the current process employed by SAHPRA for the backlog clearance programme initiated in 2019. Both the 2016 and 2021 studies had similar approval times calculated from the date of allocation of scientific assessments. The reported evaluation timelines for both studies were within 6-7 h for a low-risk quality assessment, 9-10 h for a high-risk quality assessment, 7-8 h for a bioequivalence assessment, and 2-3 h for a biowaiver and initial response assessment.

conclusionsThe refined processes used in the risk-based pilot studies to alleviate the SAHPRA backlog are described in detail. The process managed a reduction of the finalisation time to 68 calendar days in comparison to 501 calendar days for the current process that was employed by SAHPRA for the backlog clearance programme initiated in 2019. The RBA approach, therefore, reduces the finalisation and approval times for quality and bioequivalence assessments for regulatory authorities without compromising on the quality, safety and efficacy of the medicinal products. In addition, the approach provides a prototype solution to counteract the influx of medicinal product applications received by the regulatory authorities.