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THE IMPACT AND USE
OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN
PHARMACOVIGILANCE
UNLOCKING SOCIAL MEDIA’S VALUE INTO YOUR COMPANY’S STRATEGY
Pharmacovigilance practice has evolved and grown more complex over the past 5 to 10 years due to higher
data volumes, evolving regulations, increased influence of emerging markets and the emergence of social
media and innovative technological advances.
The phenomenal reach of the internet and social media over the last few years has led to a revolutionary
shift in how people are communicating with one another today. Social media platforms and applications
are fast becoming the go-to form of communication in the era of Web 2.0.
Digital media is used by biopharmaceutical companies for communication with patients to create
awareness about diseases and treatments, clinical trial enrollments and patient support programs.
However, unlike other areas in healthcare, use of the internet and social media has progressed slower in
product safety/pharmacovigilance (PV). This presents the life science and service provider industry with
multiple exciting, yet overwhelming, opportunities for appropriate and effective use of social media to
drive innovative and meaningful changes in PV and how we communicate with patients and healthcare
practitioners around the world.
This white paper examines how the influence and reach of the internet and social media can be harnessed
to drive valuable outcomes for the PV industry. In this paper, we look at available regulatory guidelines,
current state and future considerations for use of social media in PV, possible areas of influence, expected
challenges, potential solutions and next steps.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV
Social media websites and applications allow for the exchange of user-generated content where people
talk, share information, participate and network. Within the last decade, social media has become one
of the most powerful sources for news updates, viral marketing, online collaboration, networking and
entertainment.
The key question that needs to be answered is: Can the use of social media help drive consequential and
valuable changes in PV? The simple answer is “Yes” – at a minimum.
Social media presents new channels and methods that can enable companies to move away from
traditional PV systems and safety reporting methods towards more patient-centric models for reporting,
analyzing and monitoring of safety data. These channels have the capability to allow swift and open
communication between companies and the consumers/patients and healthcare providers using the
medicinal products, thereby helping foster transparency and build public trust.
Social media monitoring will likely become a standard practice in PV in the future. However, before that,
careful evaluation and assessment of the use of social media as a PV tool needs to be done, both in terms
of meaningfulness and impact on outcomes. Further, evaluation of regulations and laws required for
effective use, practicality of the use of big data obtained via social media channels, cost of use and overall
cost-benefit analysis needs to be done.
REGULATORY GUIDANCE ON USE OF INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV
Today, biopharmaceutical companies operating in the social media space have a responsibility to document
and follow-up on any potential adverse outcomes communicated through these forums in compliance with
the applicable regulatory guidance.
Companies must comply with all applicable legislations. In Europe, two pieces of legislation underpin
PV expectations: Regulation 726/2004 (as amended by Regulation 1235/2010) and Directive 2001/83/EC
(as amended by Directive 2010/84/EU).1 Operational aspects, including the Commission Implementing
Regulation 520/2012, are detailed in the associated GVP guidance.2 Pharmaceutical companies in the UK
also need to comply with requirements in the “Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry” (ABPI)
Code of Practice for Pharmaceutical Industry3 and informal guidance on digital communications, given by
the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA).4
GVP Module VI states5 that marketing authorization holders (MAHs) should regularly screen the internet
and/or digital media under their management and responsibility for potential reports of suspected adverse
reactions. In this aspect, digital media is considered to be company sponsored if it is owned, paid for and/
or controlled by the MAH. The frequency of the screening should allow for potential valid individual
case safety reports (ICSRs) to be reported to the competent authorities within the appropriate reporting
timeframe based on the date the information was posted on the internet site/digital medium. MAHs may
also consider utilizing their websites to facilitate the collection of reports of suspected adverse reactions
(VI.C.2.2.1).
If a MAH becomes aware of a report of suspected adverse reaction described in any non-company
sponsored digital medium, the report should be assessed to determine whether it qualifies for reporting.
Unsolicited cases of suspected adverse reactions from the internet or digital media should be handled
as spontaneous reports. The same reporting timeframes as for spontaneous reports should be applied
(VI.B.7).
In relation to cases from the internet or digital media, the “identifiability” of the reporter refers to the
existence of a real person, that is, it is possible to verify the contact details of the reporter (e.g., an email
address under a valid format has been provided). If the country of the primary source is missing, the
country where the information was received, or where the review took place, should be used as the
“primary source country”.5 Section II d (p.55) of Current Challenges in Pharmacovigilance: Pragmatic
Approaches, (Report of CIOMS Working Group V)6 states: A procedure should be in place to ensure daily
screening by a designated person(s) of the website(s) in order to identify potential safety case reports. The
working group does not believe it necessary for regulators or companies routinely to ‘surf’ the internet
beyond their own sites for individual spontaneous reports.
Thus far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published 3 documents about product
promotion on social media and the internet by pharmaceutical and medical device companies.7-9 The
first FDA draft guidance addressed how pharmaceutical companies should respond to off-label inquiries,
including inquiries originating from digital platforms.7 The second FDA draft guidance for industry
addressed how pharmaceutical and device companies provide benefit and risk information on the internet
and social media platforms with character space limitations (e.g., Twitter).8 The third FDA draft guidance
is about how companies should address misinformation about their products on the internet and social
media websites.9
Another long-awaited draft guidance with non-binding recommendations, issued by FDA in January
201410, provides pharmaceutical drug and biologics manufacturers with the FDA’s current thinking on
how to fulfill their post-marketing regulatory requirements for submission of “interactive promotional
media” as it relates to their FDA-approved products. “Interactive promotional media” means technology
that permits real-time communication and interaction with users which pharmaceutical drug
manufacturers use to promote their products. According to the Guidance, examples of interactive
promotional media include blogs, microblogs, social networking sites, online communities and live
podcasts. The Guidance provides pharmaceutical drug manufacturers with direction about whether
they should report product communications that utilize interactive technologies to the FDA to fulfill
their post-marketing submission requirements. It also addresses the practical considerations that these
manufacturers face with regard to submitting real-time information that is constantly increasing in volume
and changing as it is posted online and shared by users.
Today, most guidance from EMA and FDA is focused around screening of company-owned/monitored
websites, forums and other social media channels to enable and ensure maximal safety reporting.
Additional specific guidance is required in terms of confirmation of validity of safety data, obtained
via social media (within the norms of data privacy), protocols to guide further retrieval, analysis and
integration of such data with other standard safety data (obtained from standard PV sources) and also
effective use of social media for risk management and communication.
These regulatory guidelines have helped clarify to a certain extent the thinking and approach of regulatory
authorities towards evaluating content shared on internet and social media platforms and serve as an
important first step towards providing guidance for companies to develop and implement their social
media strategies for PV.
CURRENT STATUS OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV
Social media activities for PV by companies fall into three broad categories – listening (safety data
reporting), engaging (follow-up) and broadcasting (risk communication) – each with varying degrees of
complexity, associated issues and requirements.
Today, most of the regulatory guidance and hence PV activities involving social media and internet are
primarily focused around screening of social media sites and follow-up of reported safety data, as detailed
further in this section. However, their impact and use in other areas of PV-like retrieval, integration and
analysis of safety data and as potential tools for risk communication and management, is either minimal
or absent.
Companies rely on multiple adverse event (AE) reporting channels such as email correspondences,
company websites and physician hotline resources. Further to the regulatory guidance from EMA and
FDA, 1-10 today many companies in both EU and U.S., already show responsibility for their own online
content. This is evident, based on data from several surveyed companies, wherein social media serves as
one of the AE-reporting channels (32%) in these companies.11
The internet represents an excellent means of collecting drug and device AEs primarily from healthcare
providers. Adverse events can be directly reported to the FDA MedWatch in the U.S., to Health Canada
MedEffect in Canada as well as to the “Yellow Card Scheme” in the UK and in Australia. Social media has
already impacted the community of medical practitioners (www.sermo.com), community of patients (www.
patientslikeme.com), community of medical education and community of medical care facilities (Mayo
Clinic). These sites have proven that appropriate messages posted on social media platforms and channels
can have meaningful and rapid impact.
There are now multiple sites and applications for patient and consumer reports on computers and
smartphones. One such tool is the MedWatcher, a free tool that allows patients and physicians to submit
AE reports to the FDA via smartphone or tablet (MedWatcher.org). The primary purpose of such tools
is to give patients or healthcare professionals (HCPs) information on drugs, devices, interactions and
other pharmaceutical information while some also allow reporting of AEs. It is likely that these tools will
proliferate and will further become smarter (user-interactive) and sophisticated and help both sponsors
and regulators to listen to the voice of patients and consumers directly.
Today, more and more medical and consumer health companies are realizing the importance of having
appropriate and sufficient controls over social media sites to avoid potential gaps/risks in the areas of
reporting, identification and monitoring of AE data.
Companies are now actively engaged to identify and understand the value drivers for adopting a
comprehensive PV social media strategy, which encompasses proactively creating social media platforms
to solicit/capture AE data to enable an organization’s social media monitoring and reporting activities as
they relate to AE compliance (rather than monitoring and reporting what comes in passively on existing
company sites) and further examine the successes and challenges of the different types of social media
platforms being used.
Companies are now also providing their employees with social media guidance and best practices to
facilitate effective safety reporting via social media. Employees are encouraged to be a scout for reporting
safety issues/AEs that they come across on social media sites, wherein side effects are mentioned after
having taken one of the client’s drugs in a credible and identifiable way.12
FUTURE IMPACT AND POTENTIAL AREAS TO LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV
Users in an online community often share a wide variety of personal medical experiences. For many
reasons, patients often share health experiences with each other rather than in a clinical research study
or with their physician.13 One study, led by Knezevic et al. in 2011, describes how a Facebook group was
created as an AE channel and its effectiveness was tracked. The group found that it was able to connect
with 1,000 Facebook users and received 21 adverse reactions within the course of seven months.14
Social data offers some advantages over traditional AE reporting data or data mined from health and
reimbursement records. Social reports are rapid, closer to real-time data (occurring in close proximity to
the event) and potentially richer sources than reports filtered through HCPs (coming directly from
the patients).
Figure 1:
SOURCES OF ADVERSE EVENT REPORTS
Other Sources (13%)
Pharmacists (13%)
Companies (23%)
Physicians (51%)
14
14
26
57
Companies receive, on an average, just above a quarter of AE reports (26%) from patients while the
remaining AE reports are received from physicians (57%), pharmacists (14%) and other sources (14%).11
Social media channels have the potential to act as a significant source of AEs as well as data on off-label use
and impact of treatments on quality of life.
The ability of companies to leverage social media can transform these platforms into strategic PV tools.
One of the key areas of influence is therefore to establish social media as an AE reporting channel
by expanding its existing use and unlocking its potential as a value-add for companies’ PV strategies.
Social media platforms, by design, can work to increase connections between companies and healthcare
consumers and thereby allow and encourage safety reporting through direct patient and consumer
engagement. This gives companies an opportunity to connect, engage and encourage patients and
consumers to report more, helping address the concern of AEs going unreported.
However, for companies used to processing drug safety data, confirmed by physicians and other healthcare
professionals, verifying safety data obtained via social media may prove challenging, given the issue of
confirming the “identifiability” of both reporter and patient. Also, AEs received through social media may
contain less information and require additional follow-up.
New guidance to ensure appropriate validation of the reported safety data and recommendations to help
address data privacy issues in safety data obtained via social media is required. GVP module VI, Section
VI.B.2, page 125 states: When collecting reports of suspected adverse reactions via the internet or digital
media, the term “identifiable” refers to the possibility of verification of the existence of a reporter and a
patient (see VI.B.1.1.4).
The “identifiability” of the reporter refers to the existence of a real person; that is, it is possible to verify
the contact details of the reporter (e.g., an email address under a valid format has been provided). If the
country of the primary source is missing, the country where the information was received, or where the
review took place, should be used as the “primary source country”.
In a social media setting, patients are likely to be reporters themselves, without any confirmation of data
from HCPs. Credibility and origin of these self-generated reports are key issues. Also, social media with no
appropriate checks on provenance can open the avenue to unscrupulous attacks from “pseudo-reporters”.
Allowing posts only after registration and record of basic user data on company-monitored websites helps
verify the minimal criteria for confirming case validity (identifiable patient, identifiable reporter, suspect
product and AE/reaction) and allows follow up with any additional questions.
Safety data obtained via social media often contains personal data related to the patient (subject of the case)
and the reporter (patient’s healthcare provider, family member or the patient themselves). Companies need
to process personal data in compliance with the applicable data protection laws, supported by transparent
and robust processes to ensure personal data protection. Data protection notice on company-sponsored
sites should detail how user-generated information (deemed to be an AE/PC) is collected by the company
to meet legal obligations, why such information is beneficial for the protection of public health and that
the company may follow-up directly with the reporter. Regular training in data protection requirements is
recommended for all company staff involved in PV activities.15
Another area of uncertainty, around the use of social media for safety reporting is about the scope and
scale of monitoring of both company and non-company sponsored digital media. Companies will need
to prioritize monitoring social media and other forums for which they are directly responsible to better
manage time and financial resources, in line with the guidance outlined in GVP Module VI and also the
report of CIOMS Working Group V.5, 6 Concentrating on company-managed social media websites can
keep PV teams’ workloads manageable and also potentially help decrease chances of receiving duplicate
AE reports from different online reporting channels. Furthermore, this can help companies maintain the
reliability of incoming data.
RETRIEVAL, INTERPRETATION AND INTEGRATION OF SAFETY DATA OBTAINED VIA
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a promising source for new safety data and potential emergent safety signals. Yet, it is
important to keep in mind that this data is essentially unstructured data, obtained via uncontrolled and
ungoverned processes in a non-regulated environment and is neither driven by data quality standards
nor by specific business area orientation. The large amount and variety of information obtained via social
media as well as its rapidly changing nature, makes it a typical big data problem. Consequently, companies
may struggle to integrate AE reports received through social media with reports received from more
standard sources like email correspondence or physician hotlines.
The retrieval and analysis of safety data, obtained via social media channels entails extra workload and
additional resources, given the sheer size and success of social media and networks. There is a vast
amount of information on drug safety matters, available on social media and networks, some of it useful
and some not, depending on the perspective and needs of the user/reviewer.
Another concern is the potential bias introduced by the “reporter population” and thereby inaccurate
representation of the reported safety data. Of the large number of social media users, only a small
percentage (1%) are actually commenting and reporting AEs while most others are only occasional
contributors or simply observers/readers. Also, many elderly individuals do not use social media and this is
important because it creates a strong user bias for PV as this demographic is a large user of
prescription medications.
There are a number of additional technical challenges to be addressed including:
1.	 The identification of duplicate safety information with respect to data originating from digital media
i.e., the same ADR may be reported by the same or a different user on multiple digital media platforms,
requiring robust methods for the evaluation of data provenance.
2.	 Multiple languages and how data collected in different languages maps to standard ADR.
3.	 Data privacy and personal data protection issues surrounding such mining and discovery also need
special attention.
4.	 Data curation and cleaning would also be required to mitigate the risk of spreading rumors/false safety
concerns. On top of all this is the global diversity that is represented by social media and networking.
The challenges here are manifold and not just confined to linguistic issues and translation, but relate to
social structures, practices and intangibles.16
Overcoming these social media hurdles for validation and consolidation of incoming data thus poses a
great challenge, requiring the concerted efforts of PV teams. Life sciences companies along with regulators
now recognize the benefit of adapting automated tools (text-based or concept-based searches and data
mining techniques) for big data analytics to help manage and differentiate between signals received from
social media platforms and any accompanying noise.
Google Insights for Search is a tool that allows one to look at any public concerns, as measured by web
traffic, which can also include drugs and disease (AE) terms and browsing possible associations, but
without much precision. Using this tool is fascinating, but it has a long way to go before it can be used for
the purpose of pharmacovigilance to derive possible associations between AE and companies’ products and
thereby may help companies prioritize among an influx of incoming social media signals.16
The FDA is currently actively exploring a number of such social media-based strategies, including Google
search tools towards optimizing data gathering from content communities and collaborative sites. Another
prototype, created within the framework of the European research Project TrendMiner, helps analyze the
comments on social media by using natural language processing techniques (NLP), whereby patients’
colloquial descriptions are “translated” into manageable data, allowing identification of safety patterns
and trends.
Another interesting project called the WEBAE project (Web Adverse Events) aims to form a specialist
public private consortium between the EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries
and Associations) and the Applicant Consortium to undertake research into the appropriate policy
and technology solutions to leverage web-based media mining and crowd-sourcing technologies in
pharmacovigilance to strengthen the protection of public health.17
The primary objectives of this project are to develop a technical and policy framework for mining
publicly available (and licensed) web and social media content and adopt methodologies and data mining
algorithms applicable to social media content (forums, blogs, tweets, public posting, etc.) in order to find
emerging, self-reported medical insights such as AEs associated with medicines and medical devices. This
program also intends to enable direct reporting of suspected ADRs to national competent authorities via
EudraVigilance, with required applications (free of charge) available to all users of tablets, smartphones
and the mobile web, for all major platforms as well as social networking sites like Facebook.
It is indeed an interesting time for PV teams across the globe, as the latest technological advances hold
the promise to transform the future of PV practice. How PV teams and stakeholders collaborate with
regulators to derive meaningful results from the big social data deluge remains to be seen.
RISK MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION TO PATIENTS AND HEALTHCARE
PROVIDERS IA SOCIAL MEDIA
There are multiple ways in which industry can positively engage consumers and providers while
remaining within the draft FDA social media guidance.7-9 The first step is switching from a mindset of
simple risk communication to one of listening, educating, building trust, increasing safety awareness and
improving health outcomes.
Some meaningful ways that PV teams can use social media to engage and improve awareness about the
safety of a product and provide more value to patients and healthcare professionals can be seen
in Figure 2).
Figure 2:
NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSIONS
The fundamentals of social media (listening, broadcasting, engaging) are well-aligned with the principles
of PV practice, thus social media offers a potentially transformative AE reporting channel and an overall
strategic tool to drive better PV outcomes in the future.
The use and monitoring of social media sites and channels for safety reporting has increased in recent
years. At the same time, legislation to ensure appropriate pharmacovigilance and regulate the safe use
of medicine continues to become more stringent. However, unlike many other areas in the healthcare
industry, the internet and social media do not yet play a major role in drug safety and PV.
The GVP and CIOMS guidelines and recently issued U.S. FDA guidelines provide guidance to the
pharmaceutical and medical device industries for screening internet or digital media under their
management or responsibility for potential reports of suspected adverse reactions, posting information
on social media networks and also correcting misinformation posted by others. The FDA guidance also
requires companies to post both the benefits and the main risks associated with a product, potentially with
a hyperlink taking the reader directly to a more detailed list of risks. These guidelines are an important first
step towards providing guidance for companies towards development and implementation of their social
media strategies for PV.
Appropriate engagement of consumers and healthcare providers through social media by PV teams,
certainly holds the promise of better outcomes (Figure 3).
USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO
ENGAGE  IMPROVE
AWARENESS ABOUT
PRODUCT SAFETY
Distribute resources
so patients and
providers can
learn about the
product
Communicate and
correct misinformation
about product safety
Share PV contact
information for
more information
Connect patients with
specialists, and HCPs
with experts
Raise awareness about
new safety information,
publications or
changes in labeling
Conduct virtual journal
clubs with
healthcare professionals
Figure 3:
Appropriate use of the internet and social media can prove to be a significant catalyst in the
transformation of the PV practice in the not-so-distant future. However, there is no magic pill or
solution to the various challenges facing the PV industry today. New regulatory paradigms are
needed and many questions need to be answered, like:
▸▸ What is the limit of the industry’s responsibility in collecting and reviewing social media data?
▸▸ What new tools and methods could be used to capture spontaneous reports from social
media or mobile apps and provide emerging safety signals through a process of real-time
data mining?
▸▸ How can PV teams confirm the “identifiability” of the reporter and patient in safety data
obtained via social media and establish safeguards against faulty AE reporting?
▸▸ What will be acceptable practices for following up on potential signals within the context of data
privacy?
▸▸ What are the protocols for big data integration, analysis and interpretation, and reporting of
follow-up results?
Better educated
consumers and HCPs
Quicker reporting and
communication
of new safety concerns/issues
Increased insight for
product benefit-risk
evaluation
Enhanced risk
evaluation and
mitigation strategies
Improved communication
of updated safety information,
back to stakeholders
Improved relationship
between companies and
the community
SOCIAL MEDIA PROMISES BETTER OUTCOMES
These and many such questions will need to be addressed before the industry can be comfortable
with the use of social data for drug safety surveillance. Traditional PV methods will certainly
prevail, yet social media has the potential to become an added new-age tool to monitor data in
realtime, making it an early indicator of probable safety issues for further investigation.
Further, this would enable companies to generate more robust product safety profiles by
leveraging the additional social media information.
Overall, the benefits of social media engagement for PV seem to significantly outweigh perceived
risks. The time is right now to elevate social media’s role within the PV organization to a more
strategic level and drive better PV outcomes through appropriate and effective use of social media
within the evolving regulatory framework.
www.covance.com/patient-safety
Covance is the drug, medical device and diagnostics business segment of LabCorp, a leading
global life sciences company. COVANCE is a registered trademark and the marketing name
for Covance Inc. and its subsidiaries around the world.
The Americas +1.888.COVANCE (+1.888.268.2623) +1.609.452.4440
Europe / Africa +00.800.2682.2682 +44.1423.500888
Asia Pacific +800.6568.3000 +65.6.5686588
© Copyright 2019 Covance Inc. WPCMA015-1119
References
1.	 European Medicines Agency 2013. The EU pharmacovigilance system. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/
humanuse/pharmacovigilance/index_en.htm
2.	 European Medicines Agency 2013. Good pharmacovigilance practices. Available at: www.ema.europa.eu/ema/
index.jsp?curl=pages/regulation/document_listing/document_listing_000345.jsp
3.	 The ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry 2012. Available at: www.pmcpa.org.uk/thecode/
Pages/default.aspx
4.	 PMCPA 2012. Informal guidance on digital communications. Available at: www.pmcpa.org.uk/advice/
digital%20communications/Pages/default.aspx
5.	 European Medicines Agency 2013. Good pharmacovigilance practices Module VI, Section VI.B.1.1.4. Available
at: www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Scientific_guideline/2012/06/WC500129135.pdf
6.	 CIOMS 2001. Report of CIOMS Working Group V. Current challenges in pharmacovigilance: a pragmatic
approach, Section IId. See: www.cioms.ch/index.php/publications/available-publications?task=viewid=23ca
tid=54
7.	 Guidance for Industry Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription
Drugs and Medical Devices (FDA Draft Guidance) (FDA Draft Guidance December 2011).
8.	 Guidance for Industry Internet/Social Media Platforms with Character Space Limitations—Presenting Risk
and Benefit Information for Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (FDA Draft Guidance June 2014).
9.	 Guidance for Industry Internet/Social Media Platforms: Correcting Independent Third-Party Misinformation
About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (FDA Draft Guidance June 2014).
10.	Guidance for Industry Fulfilling Regulatory Requirements for Post-marketing Submissions of Interactive
Promotional Media for Prescription Human and Animal Drugs and Biologics (FDA Draft Guidance Jan 2014).
11.	Cutting Edge Information report, “Driving Pharmacovigilance Success: Risk Management Plans and Adverse
Event Reporting”.
12.	www.roche.com/social_media_guidelines.pdf
13.	K. P. Davison, J. W. Pennebaker, and S. S. Dickerson. 2000. Who talks? The social psychology of illness support
groups. The American Psychologist, 55(2):205–217.
14.	Knezevic MZ, Bivolarevic IC, Peric TS, et al. Using Facebook to increase spontaneous reporting of adverse
drug reactions. Drug Saf 2011; 34 (4): 351-2.
15.	Guidance on UK data protection in post-marketing pharmacovigilance (ABPI Guidance, 2013).
16.	Social Media and Networks in Pharmacovigilance Boon or Bane? I. Ralph Edwards and Marie Lindquist.
Uppsala Monitoring Centre, Uppsala, Sweden.
17.	www.imi.europa.eu/webfm_send/912. WEBAE-Leveraging Emerging Technology for Pharmacovigilance

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The Impact and Use of Social Media in Pharmacovigilance

  • 1. THE IMPACT AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PHARMACOVIGILANCE
  • 2. UNLOCKING SOCIAL MEDIA’S VALUE INTO YOUR COMPANY’S STRATEGY Pharmacovigilance practice has evolved and grown more complex over the past 5 to 10 years due to higher data volumes, evolving regulations, increased influence of emerging markets and the emergence of social media and innovative technological advances. The phenomenal reach of the internet and social media over the last few years has led to a revolutionary shift in how people are communicating with one another today. Social media platforms and applications are fast becoming the go-to form of communication in the era of Web 2.0. Digital media is used by biopharmaceutical companies for communication with patients to create awareness about diseases and treatments, clinical trial enrollments and patient support programs. However, unlike other areas in healthcare, use of the internet and social media has progressed slower in product safety/pharmacovigilance (PV). This presents the life science and service provider industry with multiple exciting, yet overwhelming, opportunities for appropriate and effective use of social media to drive innovative and meaningful changes in PV and how we communicate with patients and healthcare practitioners around the world. This white paper examines how the influence and reach of the internet and social media can be harnessed to drive valuable outcomes for the PV industry. In this paper, we look at available regulatory guidelines, current state and future considerations for use of social media in PV, possible areas of influence, expected challenges, potential solutions and next steps. CONSIDERATIONS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV Social media websites and applications allow for the exchange of user-generated content where people talk, share information, participate and network. Within the last decade, social media has become one of the most powerful sources for news updates, viral marketing, online collaboration, networking and entertainment. The key question that needs to be answered is: Can the use of social media help drive consequential and valuable changes in PV? The simple answer is “Yes” – at a minimum. Social media presents new channels and methods that can enable companies to move away from traditional PV systems and safety reporting methods towards more patient-centric models for reporting, analyzing and monitoring of safety data. These channels have the capability to allow swift and open communication between companies and the consumers/patients and healthcare providers using the medicinal products, thereby helping foster transparency and build public trust. Social media monitoring will likely become a standard practice in PV in the future. However, before that, careful evaluation and assessment of the use of social media as a PV tool needs to be done, both in terms of meaningfulness and impact on outcomes. Further, evaluation of regulations and laws required for effective use, practicality of the use of big data obtained via social media channels, cost of use and overall cost-benefit analysis needs to be done. REGULATORY GUIDANCE ON USE OF INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV Today, biopharmaceutical companies operating in the social media space have a responsibility to document and follow-up on any potential adverse outcomes communicated through these forums in compliance with the applicable regulatory guidance.
  • 3. Companies must comply with all applicable legislations. In Europe, two pieces of legislation underpin PV expectations: Regulation 726/2004 (as amended by Regulation 1235/2010) and Directive 2001/83/EC (as amended by Directive 2010/84/EU).1 Operational aspects, including the Commission Implementing Regulation 520/2012, are detailed in the associated GVP guidance.2 Pharmaceutical companies in the UK also need to comply with requirements in the “Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry” (ABPI) Code of Practice for Pharmaceutical Industry3 and informal guidance on digital communications, given by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA).4 GVP Module VI states5 that marketing authorization holders (MAHs) should regularly screen the internet and/or digital media under their management and responsibility for potential reports of suspected adverse reactions. In this aspect, digital media is considered to be company sponsored if it is owned, paid for and/ or controlled by the MAH. The frequency of the screening should allow for potential valid individual case safety reports (ICSRs) to be reported to the competent authorities within the appropriate reporting timeframe based on the date the information was posted on the internet site/digital medium. MAHs may also consider utilizing their websites to facilitate the collection of reports of suspected adverse reactions (VI.C.2.2.1). If a MAH becomes aware of a report of suspected adverse reaction described in any non-company sponsored digital medium, the report should be assessed to determine whether it qualifies for reporting. Unsolicited cases of suspected adverse reactions from the internet or digital media should be handled as spontaneous reports. The same reporting timeframes as for spontaneous reports should be applied (VI.B.7). In relation to cases from the internet or digital media, the “identifiability” of the reporter refers to the existence of a real person, that is, it is possible to verify the contact details of the reporter (e.g., an email address under a valid format has been provided). If the country of the primary source is missing, the country where the information was received, or where the review took place, should be used as the “primary source country”.5 Section II d (p.55) of Current Challenges in Pharmacovigilance: Pragmatic Approaches, (Report of CIOMS Working Group V)6 states: A procedure should be in place to ensure daily screening by a designated person(s) of the website(s) in order to identify potential safety case reports. The working group does not believe it necessary for regulators or companies routinely to ‘surf’ the internet beyond their own sites for individual spontaneous reports. Thus far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published 3 documents about product promotion on social media and the internet by pharmaceutical and medical device companies.7-9 The first FDA draft guidance addressed how pharmaceutical companies should respond to off-label inquiries, including inquiries originating from digital platforms.7 The second FDA draft guidance for industry addressed how pharmaceutical and device companies provide benefit and risk information on the internet and social media platforms with character space limitations (e.g., Twitter).8 The third FDA draft guidance is about how companies should address misinformation about their products on the internet and social media websites.9 Another long-awaited draft guidance with non-binding recommendations, issued by FDA in January 201410, provides pharmaceutical drug and biologics manufacturers with the FDA’s current thinking on how to fulfill their post-marketing regulatory requirements for submission of “interactive promotional media” as it relates to their FDA-approved products. “Interactive promotional media” means technology that permits real-time communication and interaction with users which pharmaceutical drug manufacturers use to promote their products. According to the Guidance, examples of interactive promotional media include blogs, microblogs, social networking sites, online communities and live podcasts. The Guidance provides pharmaceutical drug manufacturers with direction about whether they should report product communications that utilize interactive technologies to the FDA to fulfill
  • 4. their post-marketing submission requirements. It also addresses the practical considerations that these manufacturers face with regard to submitting real-time information that is constantly increasing in volume and changing as it is posted online and shared by users. Today, most guidance from EMA and FDA is focused around screening of company-owned/monitored websites, forums and other social media channels to enable and ensure maximal safety reporting. Additional specific guidance is required in terms of confirmation of validity of safety data, obtained via social media (within the norms of data privacy), protocols to guide further retrieval, analysis and integration of such data with other standard safety data (obtained from standard PV sources) and also effective use of social media for risk management and communication. These regulatory guidelines have helped clarify to a certain extent the thinking and approach of regulatory authorities towards evaluating content shared on internet and social media platforms and serve as an important first step towards providing guidance for companies to develop and implement their social media strategies for PV. CURRENT STATUS OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV Social media activities for PV by companies fall into three broad categories – listening (safety data reporting), engaging (follow-up) and broadcasting (risk communication) – each with varying degrees of complexity, associated issues and requirements. Today, most of the regulatory guidance and hence PV activities involving social media and internet are primarily focused around screening of social media sites and follow-up of reported safety data, as detailed further in this section. However, their impact and use in other areas of PV-like retrieval, integration and analysis of safety data and as potential tools for risk communication and management, is either minimal or absent. Companies rely on multiple adverse event (AE) reporting channels such as email correspondences, company websites and physician hotline resources. Further to the regulatory guidance from EMA and FDA, 1-10 today many companies in both EU and U.S., already show responsibility for their own online content. This is evident, based on data from several surveyed companies, wherein social media serves as one of the AE-reporting channels (32%) in these companies.11 The internet represents an excellent means of collecting drug and device AEs primarily from healthcare providers. Adverse events can be directly reported to the FDA MedWatch in the U.S., to Health Canada MedEffect in Canada as well as to the “Yellow Card Scheme” in the UK and in Australia. Social media has already impacted the community of medical practitioners (www.sermo.com), community of patients (www. patientslikeme.com), community of medical education and community of medical care facilities (Mayo Clinic). These sites have proven that appropriate messages posted on social media platforms and channels can have meaningful and rapid impact. There are now multiple sites and applications for patient and consumer reports on computers and smartphones. One such tool is the MedWatcher, a free tool that allows patients and physicians to submit AE reports to the FDA via smartphone or tablet (MedWatcher.org). The primary purpose of such tools is to give patients or healthcare professionals (HCPs) information on drugs, devices, interactions and other pharmaceutical information while some also allow reporting of AEs. It is likely that these tools will proliferate and will further become smarter (user-interactive) and sophisticated and help both sponsors and regulators to listen to the voice of patients and consumers directly.
  • 5. Today, more and more medical and consumer health companies are realizing the importance of having appropriate and sufficient controls over social media sites to avoid potential gaps/risks in the areas of reporting, identification and monitoring of AE data. Companies are now actively engaged to identify and understand the value drivers for adopting a comprehensive PV social media strategy, which encompasses proactively creating social media platforms to solicit/capture AE data to enable an organization’s social media monitoring and reporting activities as they relate to AE compliance (rather than monitoring and reporting what comes in passively on existing company sites) and further examine the successes and challenges of the different types of social media platforms being used. Companies are now also providing their employees with social media guidance and best practices to facilitate effective safety reporting via social media. Employees are encouraged to be a scout for reporting safety issues/AEs that they come across on social media sites, wherein side effects are mentioned after having taken one of the client’s drugs in a credible and identifiable way.12 FUTURE IMPACT AND POTENTIAL AREAS TO LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA IN PV Users in an online community often share a wide variety of personal medical experiences. For many reasons, patients often share health experiences with each other rather than in a clinical research study or with their physician.13 One study, led by Knezevic et al. in 2011, describes how a Facebook group was created as an AE channel and its effectiveness was tracked. The group found that it was able to connect with 1,000 Facebook users and received 21 adverse reactions within the course of seven months.14 Social data offers some advantages over traditional AE reporting data or data mined from health and reimbursement records. Social reports are rapid, closer to real-time data (occurring in close proximity to the event) and potentially richer sources than reports filtered through HCPs (coming directly from the patients). Figure 1: SOURCES OF ADVERSE EVENT REPORTS Other Sources (13%) Pharmacists (13%) Companies (23%) Physicians (51%) 14 14 26 57
  • 6. Companies receive, on an average, just above a quarter of AE reports (26%) from patients while the remaining AE reports are received from physicians (57%), pharmacists (14%) and other sources (14%).11 Social media channels have the potential to act as a significant source of AEs as well as data on off-label use and impact of treatments on quality of life. The ability of companies to leverage social media can transform these platforms into strategic PV tools. One of the key areas of influence is therefore to establish social media as an AE reporting channel by expanding its existing use and unlocking its potential as a value-add for companies’ PV strategies. Social media platforms, by design, can work to increase connections between companies and healthcare consumers and thereby allow and encourage safety reporting through direct patient and consumer engagement. This gives companies an opportunity to connect, engage and encourage patients and consumers to report more, helping address the concern of AEs going unreported. However, for companies used to processing drug safety data, confirmed by physicians and other healthcare professionals, verifying safety data obtained via social media may prove challenging, given the issue of confirming the “identifiability” of both reporter and patient. Also, AEs received through social media may contain less information and require additional follow-up. New guidance to ensure appropriate validation of the reported safety data and recommendations to help address data privacy issues in safety data obtained via social media is required. GVP module VI, Section VI.B.2, page 125 states: When collecting reports of suspected adverse reactions via the internet or digital media, the term “identifiable” refers to the possibility of verification of the existence of a reporter and a patient (see VI.B.1.1.4). The “identifiability” of the reporter refers to the existence of a real person; that is, it is possible to verify the contact details of the reporter (e.g., an email address under a valid format has been provided). If the country of the primary source is missing, the country where the information was received, or where the review took place, should be used as the “primary source country”. In a social media setting, patients are likely to be reporters themselves, without any confirmation of data from HCPs. Credibility and origin of these self-generated reports are key issues. Also, social media with no appropriate checks on provenance can open the avenue to unscrupulous attacks from “pseudo-reporters”. Allowing posts only after registration and record of basic user data on company-monitored websites helps verify the minimal criteria for confirming case validity (identifiable patient, identifiable reporter, suspect product and AE/reaction) and allows follow up with any additional questions. Safety data obtained via social media often contains personal data related to the patient (subject of the case) and the reporter (patient’s healthcare provider, family member or the patient themselves). Companies need to process personal data in compliance with the applicable data protection laws, supported by transparent and robust processes to ensure personal data protection. Data protection notice on company-sponsored sites should detail how user-generated information (deemed to be an AE/PC) is collected by the company to meet legal obligations, why such information is beneficial for the protection of public health and that the company may follow-up directly with the reporter. Regular training in data protection requirements is recommended for all company staff involved in PV activities.15 Another area of uncertainty, around the use of social media for safety reporting is about the scope and scale of monitoring of both company and non-company sponsored digital media. Companies will need to prioritize monitoring social media and other forums for which they are directly responsible to better manage time and financial resources, in line with the guidance outlined in GVP Module VI and also the report of CIOMS Working Group V.5, 6 Concentrating on company-managed social media websites can keep PV teams’ workloads manageable and also potentially help decrease chances of receiving duplicate
  • 7. AE reports from different online reporting channels. Furthermore, this can help companies maintain the reliability of incoming data. RETRIEVAL, INTERPRETATION AND INTEGRATION OF SAFETY DATA OBTAINED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is a promising source for new safety data and potential emergent safety signals. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that this data is essentially unstructured data, obtained via uncontrolled and ungoverned processes in a non-regulated environment and is neither driven by data quality standards nor by specific business area orientation. The large amount and variety of information obtained via social media as well as its rapidly changing nature, makes it a typical big data problem. Consequently, companies may struggle to integrate AE reports received through social media with reports received from more standard sources like email correspondence or physician hotlines. The retrieval and analysis of safety data, obtained via social media channels entails extra workload and additional resources, given the sheer size and success of social media and networks. There is a vast amount of information on drug safety matters, available on social media and networks, some of it useful and some not, depending on the perspective and needs of the user/reviewer. Another concern is the potential bias introduced by the “reporter population” and thereby inaccurate representation of the reported safety data. Of the large number of social media users, only a small percentage (1%) are actually commenting and reporting AEs while most others are only occasional contributors or simply observers/readers. Also, many elderly individuals do not use social media and this is important because it creates a strong user bias for PV as this demographic is a large user of prescription medications. There are a number of additional technical challenges to be addressed including: 1. The identification of duplicate safety information with respect to data originating from digital media i.e., the same ADR may be reported by the same or a different user on multiple digital media platforms, requiring robust methods for the evaluation of data provenance. 2. Multiple languages and how data collected in different languages maps to standard ADR. 3. Data privacy and personal data protection issues surrounding such mining and discovery also need special attention. 4. Data curation and cleaning would also be required to mitigate the risk of spreading rumors/false safety concerns. On top of all this is the global diversity that is represented by social media and networking. The challenges here are manifold and not just confined to linguistic issues and translation, but relate to social structures, practices and intangibles.16 Overcoming these social media hurdles for validation and consolidation of incoming data thus poses a great challenge, requiring the concerted efforts of PV teams. Life sciences companies along with regulators now recognize the benefit of adapting automated tools (text-based or concept-based searches and data mining techniques) for big data analytics to help manage and differentiate between signals received from social media platforms and any accompanying noise. Google Insights for Search is a tool that allows one to look at any public concerns, as measured by web traffic, which can also include drugs and disease (AE) terms and browsing possible associations, but without much precision. Using this tool is fascinating, but it has a long way to go before it can be used for the purpose of pharmacovigilance to derive possible associations between AE and companies’ products and thereby may help companies prioritize among an influx of incoming social media signals.16
  • 8. The FDA is currently actively exploring a number of such social media-based strategies, including Google search tools towards optimizing data gathering from content communities and collaborative sites. Another prototype, created within the framework of the European research Project TrendMiner, helps analyze the comments on social media by using natural language processing techniques (NLP), whereby patients’ colloquial descriptions are “translated” into manageable data, allowing identification of safety patterns and trends. Another interesting project called the WEBAE project (Web Adverse Events) aims to form a specialist public private consortium between the EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations) and the Applicant Consortium to undertake research into the appropriate policy and technology solutions to leverage web-based media mining and crowd-sourcing technologies in pharmacovigilance to strengthen the protection of public health.17 The primary objectives of this project are to develop a technical and policy framework for mining publicly available (and licensed) web and social media content and adopt methodologies and data mining algorithms applicable to social media content (forums, blogs, tweets, public posting, etc.) in order to find emerging, self-reported medical insights such as AEs associated with medicines and medical devices. This program also intends to enable direct reporting of suspected ADRs to national competent authorities via EudraVigilance, with required applications (free of charge) available to all users of tablets, smartphones and the mobile web, for all major platforms as well as social networking sites like Facebook. It is indeed an interesting time for PV teams across the globe, as the latest technological advances hold the promise to transform the future of PV practice. How PV teams and stakeholders collaborate with regulators to derive meaningful results from the big social data deluge remains to be seen. RISK MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION TO PATIENTS AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS IA SOCIAL MEDIA There are multiple ways in which industry can positively engage consumers and providers while remaining within the draft FDA social media guidance.7-9 The first step is switching from a mindset of simple risk communication to one of listening, educating, building trust, increasing safety awareness and improving health outcomes. Some meaningful ways that PV teams can use social media to engage and improve awareness about the safety of a product and provide more value to patients and healthcare professionals can be seen in Figure 2).
  • 9. Figure 2: NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSIONS The fundamentals of social media (listening, broadcasting, engaging) are well-aligned with the principles of PV practice, thus social media offers a potentially transformative AE reporting channel and an overall strategic tool to drive better PV outcomes in the future. The use and monitoring of social media sites and channels for safety reporting has increased in recent years. At the same time, legislation to ensure appropriate pharmacovigilance and regulate the safe use of medicine continues to become more stringent. However, unlike many other areas in the healthcare industry, the internet and social media do not yet play a major role in drug safety and PV. The GVP and CIOMS guidelines and recently issued U.S. FDA guidelines provide guidance to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries for screening internet or digital media under their management or responsibility for potential reports of suspected adverse reactions, posting information on social media networks and also correcting misinformation posted by others. The FDA guidance also requires companies to post both the benefits and the main risks associated with a product, potentially with a hyperlink taking the reader directly to a more detailed list of risks. These guidelines are an important first step towards providing guidance for companies towards development and implementation of their social media strategies for PV. Appropriate engagement of consumers and healthcare providers through social media by PV teams, certainly holds the promise of better outcomes (Figure 3). USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO ENGAGE IMPROVE AWARENESS ABOUT PRODUCT SAFETY Distribute resources so patients and providers can learn about the product Communicate and correct misinformation about product safety Share PV contact information for more information Connect patients with specialists, and HCPs with experts Raise awareness about new safety information, publications or changes in labeling Conduct virtual journal clubs with healthcare professionals
  • 10. Figure 3: Appropriate use of the internet and social media can prove to be a significant catalyst in the transformation of the PV practice in the not-so-distant future. However, there is no magic pill or solution to the various challenges facing the PV industry today. New regulatory paradigms are needed and many questions need to be answered, like: ▸▸ What is the limit of the industry’s responsibility in collecting and reviewing social media data? ▸▸ What new tools and methods could be used to capture spontaneous reports from social media or mobile apps and provide emerging safety signals through a process of real-time data mining? ▸▸ How can PV teams confirm the “identifiability” of the reporter and patient in safety data obtained via social media and establish safeguards against faulty AE reporting? ▸▸ What will be acceptable practices for following up on potential signals within the context of data privacy? ▸▸ What are the protocols for big data integration, analysis and interpretation, and reporting of follow-up results? Better educated consumers and HCPs Quicker reporting and communication of new safety concerns/issues Increased insight for product benefit-risk evaluation Enhanced risk evaluation and mitigation strategies Improved communication of updated safety information, back to stakeholders Improved relationship between companies and the community SOCIAL MEDIA PROMISES BETTER OUTCOMES
  • 11. These and many such questions will need to be addressed before the industry can be comfortable with the use of social data for drug safety surveillance. Traditional PV methods will certainly prevail, yet social media has the potential to become an added new-age tool to monitor data in realtime, making it an early indicator of probable safety issues for further investigation. Further, this would enable companies to generate more robust product safety profiles by leveraging the additional social media information. Overall, the benefits of social media engagement for PV seem to significantly outweigh perceived risks. The time is right now to elevate social media’s role within the PV organization to a more strategic level and drive better PV outcomes through appropriate and effective use of social media within the evolving regulatory framework.
  • 12. www.covance.com/patient-safety Covance is the drug, medical device and diagnostics business segment of LabCorp, a leading global life sciences company. COVANCE is a registered trademark and the marketing name for Covance Inc. and its subsidiaries around the world. The Americas +1.888.COVANCE (+1.888.268.2623) +1.609.452.4440 Europe / Africa +00.800.2682.2682 +44.1423.500888 Asia Pacific +800.6568.3000 +65.6.5686588 © Copyright 2019 Covance Inc. WPCMA015-1119 References 1. European Medicines Agency 2013. The EU pharmacovigilance system. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ humanuse/pharmacovigilance/index_en.htm 2. European Medicines Agency 2013. Good pharmacovigilance practices. Available at: www.ema.europa.eu/ema/ index.jsp?curl=pages/regulation/document_listing/document_listing_000345.jsp 3. The ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry 2012. Available at: www.pmcpa.org.uk/thecode/ Pages/default.aspx 4. PMCPA 2012. Informal guidance on digital communications. Available at: www.pmcpa.org.uk/advice/ digital%20communications/Pages/default.aspx 5. European Medicines Agency 2013. Good pharmacovigilance practices Module VI, Section VI.B.1.1.4. Available at: www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Scientific_guideline/2012/06/WC500129135.pdf 6. CIOMS 2001. Report of CIOMS Working Group V. Current challenges in pharmacovigilance: a pragmatic approach, Section IId. See: www.cioms.ch/index.php/publications/available-publications?task=viewid=23ca tid=54 7. Guidance for Industry Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (FDA Draft Guidance) (FDA Draft Guidance December 2011). 8. Guidance for Industry Internet/Social Media Platforms with Character Space Limitations—Presenting Risk and Benefit Information for Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (FDA Draft Guidance June 2014). 9. Guidance for Industry Internet/Social Media Platforms: Correcting Independent Third-Party Misinformation About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (FDA Draft Guidance June 2014). 10. Guidance for Industry Fulfilling Regulatory Requirements for Post-marketing Submissions of Interactive Promotional Media for Prescription Human and Animal Drugs and Biologics (FDA Draft Guidance Jan 2014). 11. Cutting Edge Information report, “Driving Pharmacovigilance Success: Risk Management Plans and Adverse Event Reporting”. 12. www.roche.com/social_media_guidelines.pdf 13. K. P. Davison, J. W. Pennebaker, and S. S. Dickerson. 2000. Who talks? The social psychology of illness support groups. The American Psychologist, 55(2):205–217. 14. Knezevic MZ, Bivolarevic IC, Peric TS, et al. Using Facebook to increase spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions. Drug Saf 2011; 34 (4): 351-2. 15. Guidance on UK data protection in post-marketing pharmacovigilance (ABPI Guidance, 2013). 16. Social Media and Networks in Pharmacovigilance Boon or Bane? I. Ralph Edwards and Marie Lindquist. Uppsala Monitoring Centre, Uppsala, Sweden. 17. www.imi.europa.eu/webfm_send/912. WEBAE-Leveraging Emerging Technology for Pharmacovigilance