[Viral safety: European and French directives]

The viral safety of IVIg is defined by transposition of European Directives. Directive 89/381/CEE defines plasma-derived medicinal products (pd-MP) which should be registred through a Marketing Authorization (75/318/CEE) and requires specific criteria for donation acceptability and fractionation processing. Recommendations and Notes for Guidance are prepared by the "Biotechnology Working Party" (BWP), Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) ad hoc group. "Note for Guidance on Virus Validation Studies: CPMP/BWP/268/95" defines, for conventional viruses, the validation study as regards viral elimination /inactivation steps (relevant virus, scale reduction system and statistical interpretation of the results). "Note for Guidance on 'blood products'- CPMP/BWP/269/95" defines the key issues of viral safety: starting material, viral elimination /inactivation steps within the fractionation processing and in process controls. Pd-MP used as excipients are also covered. BWP/CPMP recommends that exclusion criteria only be considered for sporadic, familial or iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), while withdrawal should be undertaken, according to the precaution principle, when a donor is suffering from nv-CJD (February 1998). Also, screening tests currently under development for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are encouraged to be introduced for fractionation products (January 1999). Some donor exclusion criteria for conventional viruses and prions are specific to France. In conclusion, measures taken to ensure pd-MP viral safety are constantly changing. Its evaluation can only be done when considering numerous parameters within a global context.