The EDQM is committed to improving animal welfare in the context of scientific experiments and testing. The rabbit pyrogen test (RPT), a standard safety test designed to determine the presence of certain fever-inducing contaminants called pyrogens in medicines, was added to the European Pharmacopoeia in the 1970s. Today, it is estimated that some 400 000 rabbits are used worldwide each year to perform this test. Viable alternatives exist, however, and the EDQM has been at the forefront of efforts to promote their use. In June 2024, the RPT was definitively removed from the European Pharmacopoeia texts. How was this accomplished? Gwenaël Cirefice and Emmanuelle Charton from the European Pharmacopoeia Department explain how the EDQM’s commitment to animal welfare in Europe and beyond led to such an important milestone being achieved.

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We take it for granted that the medicines we take are safe and of good quality, but few know exactly how the EDQM contributes to making this a reality. For the past 30 years, the European Network of Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCLs) has conducted independent quality control testing of medicinal products for human and veterinary use throughout, covering their entire life cycle. That means not only strict testing before they reach the market, but also market surveillance once they are on the market to detect any risk of defective or falsified medicines. In this episode, Michael Wierer, who has been working to build the OMCL Network since its inception, will present this tireless effort to ensure that patients in Europe have access to safe, good quality medicinal products. We’ll explore its history and achievements and investigate why it matters so much for public health.

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Biological medicinal products – or biologicals – are a class of pharmaceutical products derived or refined from biological sources including micro-organisms, animal tissue and even human cells. These extremely powerful and versatile medicines are at the cutting-edge of pharmaceutical science and have contributed to major breakthroughs in the treatment of smallpox, diabetes and haemophilia, as well as to promising innovations such as CRISPR-Cas9 technology and CAR T-cell therapies, making us stronger in the fight against disease. But how did we get to this point? What were the first biologicals, and how have they evolved over time? What safety concerns arise from their use? In this episode, Emmanuelle Charton from the EDQM’s European Pharmacopoeia Department walks us through the history of biologicals, from the first vaccines to the latest Nobel Prize-winning innovations.

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