The long-awaited new Clinical Trials Regulation looks set to be introduced in 2020. Initially adopted in 2014 and due to go into force soon afterwards, it was held up by technical difficulties with the database, which is necessary to underpin the new environment. The latest testing suggests these problems have been resolved.
The new regulation will provide a far more streamlined process for sharing clinical trial information, create a more efficient assessment process, and facilitate trials being conducted across multi-member states.
There is, however, one subtle, and easily overlooked consequence of the regulation, which is with regards to the EU legal representative. At the moment, any trial where the sponsor is outside of Europe requires a formal legal representative in the EU. Once the regulation is implemented, this will change – either making life easier for the sponsor or potentially adding a layer of complication that many have not foreseen.
If, on one hand, all the regulators who are dealing with the trial agree to do so, they can waive the requirement to have a legal representative requiring only a contact person instead. However, if they don’t agree then the EU legal rep will become a more significant role than it has been previously.
Under the new regulation, the legal representative will be responsible for the sponsor’s compliance with the regulations. In practice, what that means is the EU legal representative will have to provide quality assurance oversight across the full extent of the trial, including not only aspects conducted in the EU, but also those potentially conducted outside the EU but linked to the trial.
If we look at many of the life sciences companies that will need a legal representative – the small biotech companies with no presence in the EU – the reason for this change becomes clearer. These companies can have immature systems in place and are typically led by someone relatively new to the industry, or at least to their level of responsibility. The likelihood of something major going wrong is low, but far higher than if the sponsor was a major multi-national. Making the legal representative responsible for the sponsor’s compliance is a way for EU regulators to ensure that there is someone to pursue in all circumstances
That said, those companies offering EU legal representative services will need to closely assess the potential risks involved as the regulation moves closer to implementation and the portal goes live…