10 Pharmacovigilance Information Sources Every PV Professional Should Read

Pharmacovigilance information significantly impacts the daily lives of PV professionals. You open your laptop in the morning, and before your first coffee is finished, several tabs are already open. Regulatory news. Safety alerts. Medical literature. Another case report. New risks, updated warnings, and unexpected adverse reactions continue to emerge.

At DrugCard, our team lives this reality daily. Every day, we read a lot. Everyone has their own bookmarks, favourite websites, and a long list of tabs. But when we compared notes, we realised something interesting.

Despite different roles and experience levels, there are a few sources that everyone checks regularly. These are the most critical pharmacovigilance information sources that help our specialists stay ahead. We spoke to each of our experts and compiled a list of 10 sources they open almost every day. We’re sharing this list with you.

1. What’s New at the European Medicines Agency

For many PV specialists, the day starts with EMA. Opening the “What’s New” section feels a bit like reading the morning news. Regulatory decisions, safety communications, referral procedures, and product-related updates appear here first. You might find a new warning about a drug you monitor or a referral procedure for a product your team handles.

Information is structured, searchable, and linked to active substances and international nonproprietary names. That makes it easier to connect regulatory actions with real pharmacovigilance work.

2. Drug Safety and Availability from the FDA

Sometimes, the FDA offers a different perspective on drug safety issues compared to other regulatory authorities, and that is precisely why it matters.

Its Drug Safety and Availability section focuses on safety communications for healthcare professionals and patients. New warnings, label changes, recalls, and safety investigations are published here with detailed explanations.

Many PV professionals use FDA updates to understand how regulators communicate risk and justify decisions. These insights facilitate signal evaluation and benefit-risk discussions, providing valuable pharmacovigilance information daily.

3. MHRA Vigilance and Safety Updates

The UK regulator is known for its practical approach. MHRA safety updates are clear, concise, and focused on real clinical impact. They often include concrete recommendations and risk minimisation advice that can be directly applied in daily pharmacovigilance activities.

Many PV specialists closely follow the MHRA because early safety trends often emerge here before becoming more widespread regulatory actions.

4. Safety Alerts and Recalls from the Hong Kong Drug Office

Some of the most valuable PV resources are not the most obvious ones. The Hong Kong Drug Office publishes safety alerts and recall information that reflect decisions made by multiple regulatory authorities worldwide. 

Our team often checks this source to see how different regulators respond to similar safety concerns. It is invaluable when monitoring products marketed across many regions.

One bookmark quietly delivers essential pharmacovigilance information.

5. Reactions Weekly

Reactions Weekly offers a concise overview of newly reported adverse drug reactions, safety studies, labelling changes, and market withdrawals. It gathers information from journals, conferences, regulatory agencies, and official announcements.

For PV professionals, it offers a convenient way to stay informed without needing to scan dozens of separate sources.

It is often the first place where emerging safety issues come to your attention.

6. Cureus Journal of Medical Science

Not every safety signal comes from extensive studies. Cureus publishes a wide range of clinical articles, with a strong presence of case reports. Many describe rare, unexpected, or previously undocumented adverse reactions.

For pharmacovigilance teams, these publications are valuable because they often represent early evidence of potential risks.

By the way, Cureus is indexed in PubMed and automatically monitored by DrugCard, which means that relevant publications are detected without the need for manual searching.

7. WHO Pharmaceuticals Newsletter

The WHO Pharmaceuticals Newsletter provides insights into safety signals, regulatory actions, and risk assessments from around the world. It reflects how different countries address the same safety challenges.

This source is significant for global pharmacovigilance and companies with international portfolios. It helps you understand not only what is happening, but where the global conversation on drug safety is heading.

8. International Society of Pharmacovigilance

ISoP brings together experts who shape the field’s evolution. Its publications and guidance documents explore signal detection, risk management, ethics, and future challenges in drug safety.

Many PV specialists read ISoP materials to deepen their understanding and move beyond procedural thinking.

9. FiercePharma

Some safety stories don’t start with a formal alert or a regulatory letter. They start with a headline. Every day, FiercePharma publishes concise, fast-paced stories about drug safety controversies, post-marketing challenges, regulatory pressures, label changes, and real-world consequences for pharmaceutical companies. It is not intended to serve as a guideline and should not be used as a substitute for regulatory sources. 

This is often where safety discussions begin before they become official. A withdrawn indication. A safety concern raised by clinicians. A regulatory question that suddenly gains attention. 

PV professionals regularly check this source to stay informed about what may become relevant tomorrow. It provides early context and practical pharmacovigilance information that complements official sources.

10. National Regulatory Authority Safety Bulletins

Every country has its own way of communicating drug safety. National regulatory authority bulletins often contain local safety concerns, prescribing restrictions, or early warnings that may not be apparent at the global level immediately. 

PV professionals who regularly scan these bulletins are often the first to notice region-specific risks that later gain wider attention.

Using Pharmacovigilance Information to Stay Ahead in PV

Pharmacovigilance is a profession built on awareness, judgment, and responsibility. Staying informed is not optional in pharmacovigilance. It is part of the job. Choosing the right sources makes that responsibility manageable.

The real challenge is not access to information, but knowing where to look and how to connect the dots. Each source plays a different role. Some alert you to immediate risks. Others help you understand trends, context, and long-term impact.

For our PV professionals, these pharmacovigilance information sources support the detection of better safety information, stronger risk assessments, and more confident decision-making.