Using real‐world evidence for pharmacovigilance and drug safety‐related decision making by a resource‐limited health authority: 10 years of experience in Taiwan

Purpose Real‐world evidence has become increasingly relevant in regulatory decision making. Compared to large regulatory bodies, the national pharmacovigilance system in Taiwan is still under development, and the aim of this study is to demonstrate how a resource‐limited health authority utilizes real‐world evidence in decision making. Methods We described different sources of real‐world data available in Taiwan and illustrated the structural framework that integrates real‐world evidence into Taiwan's national pharmacovigilance system. Additionally, we reviewed real‐world studies conducted in the past 10 years and provided examples to show how these studies influenced drug safety‐related decision making in Taiwan. Results During the past 10 years, real‐world evidence used when making drug safety‐related regulatory decisions in Taiwan was mainly generated from nationwide claims databases, but other sources of real‐world data, such as national registries and large electronic hospital databases, also became available recently. Different types of real‐world evidence, including drug utilization studies, risk evaluation studies, and risk minimization measure evaluation studies, have been used to support regulatory decisions in Taiwan. Conclusions Through collaborations between the government and academics, Taiwan has started to integrate real‐world evidence into the national pharmacovigilance system. However, future efforts, including linkages between different sources of real‐world data and improvements in procedural and methodological practices, are needed to generate more regulatory‐quality real‐world evidence.