{"id":831,"date":"2020-10-26T15:28:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T15:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pharmity.com\/?p=831"},"modified":"2024-11-04T11:41:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T11:41:51","slug":"tial-master-file-e-mail-communications-in-clinical-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pharmity.com\/tial-master-file-e-mail-communications-in-clinical-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial Master File: E-Mail Communications in Clinical Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Communications associated with key decision making and trial conduct is commonly an area raised as deficient during GCP audits or inspections. The communication section in the (e)TMF frequently lacks the relevant e-mail threads.<\/p>\n

In order to improve the process of filing e-mail communications in the (e)TMF and provide recommendations to the life sciences industry on the management of e-mail communications generated throughout the conduct of a clinical study, the Trial Master File (TMF) Reference Model published on 31st July 2020 a Guidance for the Management of e-Mail Communication in Clinical Studies<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The guidance reinforces that those e-mail communications that enable evaluation of the conduct of the study; key decisions made during the study; the integrity of the study data; and compliance of the investigator, sponsor and monitor with the standards of Good Clinical Practice and with all applicable regulatory requirements are considered \u201cEssential Documents\u201d (Ref. ICH GCP E 6(R2) 1.23) and should be retained in the (e)TMF.<\/p>\n

The guidance provides clear filing-email practices, including but not limited to the best approach to the filing of e-mails, filing responsibility, how to handle email treads and attachments, periodic review of e-mails, GDPR implication, and e-mail archiving and preservation. It also lists the main references within regulations and guidelines covering this topic.<\/p>\n

Some takeaways after reviewing the guidance that are worth to highlight are the following:<\/p>\n