In 2021 the Latvian Medicines Verification System has been operating stably, constantly ensuring the verification of medicines that are available to the Latvian population through legal supply chains, according to the annual report 2021 of the Latvian Medicines Verification Organization (LZVO). The annual report was approved in the General Assembly meeting of LZVO members on March 4, 2022.
More than 570 new products and 75 million new medicine packages have been uploaded to the Latvian Medicines Verification System (LZVS) in 2021. LZVS has been stable throughout the whole year, it has operated without significant breaks. During this period end-users in Latvia – pharmacies and healthcare institutions – have already successfully decommissioned more than 26.2 million packages of medicines from the system, which is 18% more than in 2020.
In accordance with the principles and objectives of the system, the LZVS generates alerts. Alerts are considered as potential counterfeits. Some technical, procedural, or human failures are still detected in the operation of the system, such as inaccurate manufacturer data entered into the system or deficiencies in the end-user's IT system or scanner, which may generate an alert at the time of medicine verification. The number of alerts in Latvia in 2021 is on average 0.09% of the total number of verified packages of medicine. Manufacturers and end-users continue to resolve technical, procedural, and procedural errors.
LZVO has implemented security procedures ensuring that only users whose identity, role and legitimacy has been verified, can access the the system. LZVO has developed a customer portal, where potential end-users of LZVS can submit application as well as current end-users can update their legal data to maintain up-to-date information. By the end of 2021, 1181 end-users were connected to LZVS.
In 2021 LZVO conducted two surveys to evaluate its customer service – one survey of LZVS end-users and another survey of software providers (serving end-users). End-users have evaluated LZVO customer service with 4.3 points out of a maximum of 5 possible, IT suppliers with 4.9 points out of a maximum of 5 possible.
Last year LZVO continued to work on the development of the system. At the beginning of 2021, the Reporting 1.05 release was qualified and delivered to LZVS. Throughout 2021 intensive work was carried out on the development, qualification, and implementation of LZVS Core 1.09 and Reporting 1.06 releases. LZVO actively participates in the process of monitoring the development and implementation of new releases in the customer group of Arvato countries, as well as participates in joint user acceptance tests (jUAT) and interoperability tests (IOT).
The management of LZVO has assessed the risks posed by the Covid-10 pandemic, and in 2021 several measures were taken to mitigate the risks, including the introduction of remote work and the development of a document “LZVO customer support in daily and emergency situations”.
The goal of LZVO in 2022 is to ensure stable and fast operation of LZVS for its users. Close co-operation with the end-users of the system and marketing authorization holders in the evaluation and resolution of alerts generated by the LZVS continues. Active participation in the management, development, and monitoring of the common European Medicines Verification System is ongoing. The acquisition and implementation of the alert management system is planned within the next few years, as well as its connection to the European central alert management system (HUB AMS) developed by the European Medicines Verification Organization (EMVO).
The association “Latvian Medicines Verification Organisation” (LZVO) was founded in December 2016 with an aim to establish, maintain and manage the Latvian Medicines Verification System according with the requirements of European Medicines Verification System, the Falsified Medicines Directive, and the Delegated Regulation for the representatives of the pharmaceutical industry. The founders of association are professional associations of medicinal products manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies, and professional associations of other industries that are involved in the system of medicinal products: Association of International Research-based Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers, The Latvian Generic Medicines Association, The Latvian Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association, Pharmaceutical Care Association of Latvia, and Latvian Medicines Parallel Import Association.