Geneva, 29 September 2022:
The PIC/S Committee has granted the status of Associated Partner Organisation to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE).
Recognising that they share a common goal to protect public and animal Health and Safety, PIC/S and DG SANTE have agreed to enter into a working arrangement to co-operate in areas of common interest. The co-operation will notably be on Good Manufacturing and Distribution Practice (GMDP) standards and their implementation processes for medicinal products for human or veterinary use with a view to make best use of available resources and avoid duplication of activities. DG SANTE has very close relations and interactions as part of the EU Regulatory Network with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which has its own co-operation agreement with PIC/S. Also the Heads of Medicines Agencies of the European Economic Area (HMA) have signed a letter of agreement with PIC/S in 2016. The co-operation between PIC/S and DG SANTE under this new arrangement will be complementary to those co-operations.
This new bilateral co-operation arrangement will lead to opportunities for increased international co-operation and is very much in line with similar agreements that PIC/S has signed with other associated partners such as EMA, EDQM, UNICEF, WOAH and WHO. Along with this new co-operation arrangement, a new trilateral working arrangement on the exchange of non-public information between PIC/S, EC and EMA has also been signed.
An official welcome will be given to DG SANTE at the next PIC/S Committee meeting in Dublin (Ireland) on 3 October 2022.
Geneva, 30 July 2026
PIC/S has published the revised PIC/S Recommendations on Qualification and Validation (PI 006-4).
These Recommendations have been revised by a dedicated PIC/S Working Group, successively chaired by Norman Gray (UK / MHRA) and subsequently jointly chaired by Kevin O’Donnell (Ireland / HPRA) and Rebecca Dowd (USA / US FDA). They supersede the PIC/S Recommendations on Validation Master Plan; Installation and Operational Qualification; Non-Sterile Process Validation; and Cleaning Validation (PI 006-3).
PI 006-4 will enter into force on 1 October 2026.
To download the revised Recommendations document, please consult the page “Publications”.
Geneva, 28 July 2026:
Registrations for the 2026 PIC/S Seminar on “Digital Transformation in GMP” which will be hosted by Türkiye / TMMDA from 4-6 November 2026 are now open (for Medicines Regulatory Authorities only). Deadline for registrations is 31 August 2026 (early-bird) and 23 October 2026 (standard).
For more information, please contact the PIC/S Secretariat.
Geneva, 28 July 2026:
On 15 July 2026, a Rapporteur was appointed by written procedure for the pre-accession application of Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE), for which a pre-accession application was received on 5 March 2026.
In line with the revised PIC/S Guidelines for the Pre-Accession Procedure, the designation of the Rapporteur marks the start of the pre-accession process.
Geneva, 28 July 2026:
On 17 December 2025, the State Entity “Center of Good Practices” of the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Agency under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the State Institution “Center for Pharmaceutical Products Safety” under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, submitted a joint membership application to PIC/S.
The application received was completed on 15 January 2026, further to which the Rapporteurs and Audit Team are in the process of being appointed by written procedure.
Geneva, 16 July 2026:
The joint EMA - PIC/S drafting group has developed a concept paper on the revision of the Annex 15 (Qualification and validation) of the EU - PIC/S GMP Guide.
This concept paper aims to outline the rationale, objectives, and proposed changes for updating the Annex 15 - Qualification and validation, of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Guide, that is common to the Member States of the European Union (EU) / European Economic Area (EEA), as well as to the Participating Authorities (PAs) of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S). The aim of the revision is to extend the scope of the annex to active substances manufacturers and to consider the revision of ICH Guideline Q9 (R1) on quality risk management.
This concept paper was submitted to a joint EMA - PIC/S public consultation and comments have been collected until 9 April 2026. Following the public consultation, the initial timetable has been revised, and only this section has been updated accordingly.
The revised Concept Paper can be downloaded on the PIC/S website (link), as well as on the EMA website (link).