News: Regulations & Standards
Trilogy Writing & Consulting, An Indegene Company earns the PIF TICK for the third year in a row
16 September 2024
That’s right! Trilogy Writing & Consulting, An Indegene Company has been re-certified as a ‘Trusted Information Creator’ by Patient Information Forum, the only UK quality mark for trusted health information.
The PIF TICK shows readers that information is evidence-based, accurate, and regularly reviewed. Dan Wills, Quality Manager of Patient Information Forum, said, “Continued certification demonstrates your commitment to the provision of high-quality health information” and we couldn’t agree more! See here for more information: The PIF TICK | Patient Information Forum (pifonline.org.uk)
Indegene acquires Trilogy Writing & Consulting GmbH, a medical writing consultancy
27 March 2024
Princeton, United States, and Frankfurt, Germany, March 27, 2024: Indegene, a digital-first, life sciences commercialization company, announced the acquisition of Trilogy Writing & Consulting GmbH (Trilogy), a global provider of specialty medical writing capabilities across clinical, regulatory, safety and medical content to life sciences companies. The acquisition by Indegene Ireland, a subsidiary of Indegene Limited, augments Indegene’s depth of clinical and regulatory writing expertise for market authorization applications globally.
Trilogy Writing & Consulting is a Germany, UK, and US-based, medical writing consultancy with know-how in the development and delivery of clinical, regulatory, safety, and medical content. It applies its expertise and unique approaches to deliver quality medical writing output. Trilogy has a proven track record of more than 22 years of providing medical writing services to the biopharmaceutical and medical devices industry with strength in expertise across oncology, immunology, neurosciences, urology, anti-infectives, endocrinology, respiratory diseases, and many other therapeutic areas. Trilogy’s dedication to strategic medical writing ensures client success in regulatory submissions across a breadth of health authorities including the US FDA, EU EMA, Health Canada, UK MHRA, China NMPA, Japan PMDA, and many others.
To access the full Press Release, please click here.
Communicating with patients: why it matters and how to do it better.
February 2024
We are thrilled to introduce our newest publication: the Medical Writing Supplement titled “Communicating with Patients: Why it Matters and How to Do it Better.” This special edition represents the culmination of extensive discussions, insights, opinions, and experiences contributed by professionals from across the globe, all focused on various aspects of effective communication with patients and the general public.
Within this supplement, you will find valuable information aimed at improving communication practices with the general public. From recognizing the importance of clear communication to exploring strategies for enhancing patient engagement, each article and contribution is crafted to offer practical guidance and actionable insights.
We believe that this supplement will not only serve as a valuable resource for medical writers but also as a source of inspiration and guidance for anyone looking to refine their communication skills within the healthcare sector.
We hope you find this supplement both informative and motivating. To read the new Medical Writing Supplement, please click here. Happy reading!
What are the greatest challenges facing the medical writing field? An interview with Lisa Chamberlain James
We’re excited to announce that our Senior Partner, Lisa Chamberlain James, was once again featured, this time on www.PlainLanguageSummaries.com
In her latest interview, Lisa reflects on her role at Trilogy Writing & Consulting, sharing her insights on thriving in the medical writing world. She also sheds light on the transformative power of writing in plain language, making vital healthcare information more accessible to all.
What does a typical day in your job look like?
It sounds like such a cliché, but there really is no ‘typical day’ – it’s one of the reasons I love my job so much! Among many other things, I could be working with client teams to kick off or continue a project, advising or guiding other writers in the company, running trainings or preparing new trainings/presentations for conferences or for the European or American Medical Writing Associations. Additionally, I could also be discussing aspects of our new AI tool with the TriloDocs team, reviewing a Plain Language Summary of Publication (PLSP) for Future Sciences Group, or talking to potential new clients about who we are and how we could help them.
To read the full interview, please click here. Enjoy!
Women in Writing:
Dr Lisa Chamberlain James
August 2023
We are thrilled to present this interview featuring Lisa Chamberlain James, Senior Partner at Trilogy Writing & Consulting, as International Clinical Trials spotlights accomplished women in the pharmaceutical world in their latest issue. In this conversation, Lisa discusses representation in the medical writing field and her opinions on how communication with the general public can be improved.
ICT: How long have you been in the medical writing field, and how have your experiences as part of the American and European Medical Writing Association Committees (AMWA and EMWA, respectively) shaped the way you now approach medical writing?
Lisa Chamberlain James (LCJ): I’ve been a medical writer for about 23 years now, but my background is in academia. I did my first degree in genetics followed by a PhD in pathology, again looking at genetics and bioengineering. I love science but decided that life at the bench wasn’t really for me. However, I’ve always loved the communication of science, so I did my medical writing training at a pharmaceutical company in Cambridge, and then left my own medical writing company to join Trilogy in 2011.
EMWA was very instrumental in finding my first medical writing job, and in my medical writing training. Not only does the organisation provide educational opportunities for medical writers – I did a lot of my training through EMWA, for example – but it has amazing networking possibilities, and I first met the other three senior partners of Trilogy at an EMWA meeting.
To read the full interview, please click here. Enjoy!
Trilogy Writing & Consulting has been awarded the recertification of the PIF TICK
July 2023
Trilogy Writing & Consulting has been awarded the recertification of the PIF TICK, the only UK quality mark for trusted health information. Our recertification serves as validation for our ongoing commitment to developing clinical and scientific communication documents that are grounded in evidence, devoid of jargon, up-to-date, easily comprehensible, and produced to the highest standards. Readers can rely on Trilogy Writing & Consulting’s content with confidence, knowing that they have access to reliable and trustworthy health information. If you have any questions about the PIF TICK scheme, please visit www.pifonline.org.uk.
If you would like more information about our services, please contact us at writers@trilogywriting.com.
Julia Forjanic Klapproth, Senior Partner at Trilogy Writing & Consulting receives the Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award 2022
November 2022
Trilogy Writing & Consulting, a company specialised in regulatory writing, announced that one of its Senior Partners, Julia Forjanic Klapproth, was honored with the Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award during the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) conference that took place in Denver, CO, in the beginning of November 2022.
The Harold Swanberg Award, named after one of the founders of AMWA, is presented to an active AMWA member who has made distinguished contributions to medical communication or rendered unusual and distinguished services to the medical profession.
In her acceptance speech, Julia reminiscences the earlier years of her career and shares her insights on how medical writers and communicators are a pivotal part of the development of science and society at large: “The better we do our job, the faster the messages of today will drive the science and developments of tomorrow and improve the lives of people throughout the world. We saw so clearly during the pandemic the importance of getting clear messages out to the world to avoid confusion and mistrust in science. So, I honestly do not believe it is an exaggeration when I say that medical writers bring the light to the world. Hard won light gleaned by researchers, doctors, and patients who commit to research so we can learn more. But it is we who tell the world what has been learned.”
This award is a recognition of Julia’s “almost obsessive passion for medical writing and its importance to the pharmaceutical industry and the world.”
To listen to Julia’s acceptance speech, please click HERE
To learn more about AMWA, please visit www.amwa.org
Trilogy Writing & Consulting gains PIF TICK accreditation to be recognised as a ‘trusted information creator’
August 2022
Trilogy Writing & Consulting has been awarded the PIF TICK – the UK’s only assessed quality mark for print and online health and care information.
To be awarded the ‘trusted information creator’ status, Trilogy had to undergo an assessment showing it met 10 key criteria.
This means you can be assured that what you are reading, watching, or listening to is evidence-based, understandable, jargon-free, up-to-date, and produced to the best possible standard.
Lisa Chamberlain James, Senior Partner at Trilogy Writing & Consulting, said: “Gaining the PIF TICK shows we have a strong process for developing our clinical and scientific communication documents. It is clear that the demand and need for information for the non-specialist audience is growing, and it is equally clear that with the current information overload it is difficult to know what to trust. This quality mark is an unequivocal way for people to be assured our information is reliable and trustworthy.”
The PIF TICK, which launched in May 2020, is run by the non-profit Patient Information Forum (PIF).
In July 2021, a public website, www.piftick.org.uk, was launched to raise awareness of PIF TICK-accredited members and help people find trusted health information.
The site also includes guides on topics including spotting false health information and understanding evidence.
PIF TICK manager Dan Wills said: “We are thrilled to welcome Trilogy Writing & Consulting to our ever-growing community of accredited PIF TICK members. Accurate, accessible, evidence-based information is key to increasing patient empowerment and improving health outcomes.”
For more information, please go to: www.pifonline.org.uk
The Consequences of EU Regulation 536/2014
February 2022
The way clinical trials are conducted in the European Union (EU) will undergo a major change when the portal for upload of the lay summaries required by Clinical Trials Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 536/2014) opens on 31 January 2022. The Regulation harmonises the assessment and supervision processes for clinical trials throughout the EU, via a Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS). CTIS will contain the centralised EU portal and database for clinical trials required by the Regulation. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) sets up and maintains CTIS, in collaboration with the Member States and the European Commission.
The goal of the Clinical Trials Regulation is to create an environment that is favourable to conducting clinical trials in the EU, with the highest standards of safety for participants and increased transparency of trial information. The Regulation will require:
• Consistent rules for conducting clinical trials throughout the EU,
• Information on the authorisation, conduct and results of each clinical trial carried out in the EU to be publicly available.
This will increase the efficiency of all trials in Europe with the greatest benefit for those conducted in multiple Member States. It aims to foster innovation and research, while helping avoid unnecessary duplication of clinical trials or repetition of unsuccessful trials.
With the opening of the portal for upload of Clinical Trial Lay Summaries, the requirement for Lay Summary production is about to become mandatory. Sponsors will be required to submit a summary of the clinical trial results to the publicly available European database 12 months after the end of the trial.
The Medical Devices Regulations (MDR) of 2017 increased the requirements for documentation of clinical data in support of License Applications
Prior to 1993, documentation of a medical device’s clinical safety and performance was given much less attention than the documentation of its manufacture and quality. Since June 1993 a series of regulatory efforts were made to improve the safety of medical devices.
MDD = Medical Devices Directive (93/42/EEC); MDR = Medical Devices Regulations (2017/745)
In April 2017, the MDR was released and made the clinical evaluation of medical devices statutory for access to the EU market for all classes of Medical Devices. Although new guidelines derived from the MDR are expected, including guidance on specific types of devices, the MEDDEV guidelines relating to the clinical evaluation have remained largely valid. The MDR strengthened the requirement for the clinical evaluation of medical devices, particularly the need for a thorough documentation of pre-clinical and clinical data relating to the safety and performance of the device. The amount of pre-clinical and clinical data required for documentation depends largely on the level of risk to health and safety associated with the use of the device. Several new document types have been introduced:
- Clinical Evaluation Report (CER)
- Clinical Development Plan (CDP)
- Clinical Evaluation Plan (CEP)
- Post-market Clinical Follow-up (PMSF) Plan
- PMSF Report
- Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
- Clinical Investigation Plan
- Clinical Investigation Report
Not all these are required for all devices but a CER is now mandatory for all medical device license applications in Europe. For the regulators (Notified Bodies), the CER is a key element in assessing the fitness of a medical device for clinical use.
Details on the requirements of the clinical evaluation of a medical device were first provided in the MDD but details on the content of the CER first appeared in the EU MEDDEV Guideline 2.7/1 rev 4 (2016). It documents the clinical evidence that supports a licensing application and, after approval, it is regularly updated to enable the device to remain on the market.
The CER describes the clinical evaluation of the medical device and, according to the MDR 2017, “… shall be thorough and objective, and take into account both favourable and unfavourable data. Its depth and extent shall be proportionate and appropriate to the nature, classification, intended purpose and risks of the device in question, as well as to the manufacturer’s claims in respect of the device.”
The CER is a stand-alone document and is submitted as an attachment to the Technical File. It contains:
- an assessment of the evidence of the device’s safety risks and expected clinical performance, and, in the updates, additional clinical data on its safety and performance in the field, using evidence actively acquired by the manufacturer during the post-marketing clinical follow-up,
- a regularly updated review of relevant published literature, and,
- depending on the class and type of device, data from clinical investigations of the device.
The EU MEDDEV Guideline 2.7/1 rev 4 (2016) remains the currently accepted guidance on the processes of clinical evaluation of medical devices and includes guidance on the structure and content of the CER. It proposes a table of contents for the CER that is now widely accepted as the standard.