EC JRC Publishes Report on Mapping Nanomedicine Terminology in Regulatory Landscape

The European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center has published a Technical Report entitled Mapping Nanomedicine Terminology in the Regulatory Landscape.  According to the abstract, to support a better understanding of terms used in the regulatory domain, the Nanomedicines Working Group of the International Pharmaceutical Regulators Forum (IPRF) prioritized the need to map, compile, and discuss the currently used terminology of regulatory scientists coming from different geographic areas.  JRC took the lead to identify and compile frequently used terms in the field by using web crawling and text mining tools, as well as the manual extraction of terms.  The abstract states that the compilation and analysis of extracted terms demonstrated sectorial and geographical differences in the frequency and type of nanomedicine related terms used in a regulatory context.  JRC compiled, discussed, and analyzed the 31 relevant and most frequently used terms derived from various agencies for their similarities and differences.  The descriptions are intended to support the development of harmonized use of terminology in the future.  The report “provides necessary background information to advance the discussion among stakeholders.  It will strengthen activities aiming to develop harmonised standards in the field of nanomedicine, which is an essential factor to stimulate innovation and industrial competitiveness.”