The EU Orphan Regulation and the Paediatric Regulation have helped to increase the number of products developed for rare diseases and children, but they both have some shortcomings that need to be addressed, according to an evaluation of the legislation carried out by the EU authorities. The European pharmaceutical industry has warned against opening up the legislation, saying it is “critical to maintain a stable and predictable incentives framework."

In addition to agreeing to emergency use of the Oxford University/Astra Zeneca and Sinovac vaccines, Brazil's medicines regulator has also published good manufacturing practices certificates for Pfizer and Janssen vaccine. It has questions about the Sputnik V authorization request.

A Dutch parallel registration and reimbursement pilot has brought benefits including more participation from healthcare professionals, and also forces company divisions to be less streamlined.