Featured Pharma Online Editorial

  1. FDA Updates Guidance For Investigating OOS Test Results 6/24/2022

    FDA's CDER has released a guidance sharing the agency's recommendations on how to evaluate out-of-specification (OOS) test results, including the responsibilities of lab personnel, the lab phase of the investigation, additional testing that may be necessary, when to expand the investigation outside the lab, and the final evaluation of all test results.

  2. Assessing Extractables & Leachables In Parenteral Drug Products 6/8/2022

    Therapeutic complexity increases the potential risks associated with chemical composition of materials used for drug packaging. Leachables in drug or biological products are chemical compounds that originate from components that are used to store and deliver medicines. Extractables should be considered as potential leachables.

  3. FDA Finds Drug Shortages Are Mostly Caused By Quality Issues 6/6/2022

    New FDA guidance on risk management plans (RMPs) to mitigate the potential for drug shortages recommends an RMP for drugs that treat rare diseases and conditions, drugs with no alternatives, sole source products, products with only one API or manufacturing site available, and drugs made in facilities where an Official Action Indicated has been issued.

  4. AstraZeneca Implements A "Technology Uplift" Of Its Microbiology Labs 5/31/2022

    Modern microbiology labs are busy, with a wide range of activities taking place from final product testing to auxiliary support such as quality control release checks on nutrient media. While instruments and equipment available to technicians can vary, AstraZeneca wanted a networkwide approach to modernizing its labs.

  5. The Growing Value of Quality & Compliance Professionals in Decentralized Pharma 5/25/2022

    The phrase “the pharma ecosystem” has begun to pop up. Who is best suited to envision, support, and strategize a quality management vision in our current “ecosystem”? Here are some reasons your company and employees should value the unique skillset of these individuals more than ever.

  6. Calculating Process Capability Of Cleaning Processes With Partially Censored Data 5/19/2022

    When cleaning sample results are below the detection limits (DLs) of an analytical method, these data are known as "non-detects" or "left-censored" data. There are basically two broad classes of methods that are applied to left-censored data: Substitution and Estimation. This article explores these methods for use with cleaning sample data when some of the points are below the DL.

  7. Pharmaceutical Quality Compliance In 2022: Data Is Paramount 2/11/2022

    Pharma quality and compliance leaders must anticipate potential manufacturing issues before they happen by leveraging risk-based methodologies, continuously monitoring their systems, and tracking the profusion of data generated during the process. This article outlines the potential of data and analytics to improve quality performance.

  8. Calculating Cleaning Process Capability: Analysis Of Total Organic Carbon 1/10/2022

    This article will examine a data set of actual total organic carbon (TOC) swab data collected during cleaning validation for a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility and will show how much cleaning process knowledge and cleaning process understanding can be easily obtained through some simple statistical evaluations of such data.

  9. The Essential Components Of A Sterility Assurance Program 10/15/2021

    The first step in developing a sterility assurance program is to list each step in the process, beginning at the point of use and ending in sterile storage. Each step should be evaluated for ways to prevent contamination in the manufacturing process or environments. This article shares the components of a holistic sterility assurance program for an aseptic manufactured product.

  10. FMEA Vs. System Risk Structures (SRS): Which Is More Useful? 9/24/2021

    In this article, Mark Witcher, Ph.D., discusses the many failure modes of FMEA and risk priority number (RPN), comparing and contrasting it with system risk structures (SRS) and adjusted risk likelihood (RPN). He concludes that one of these is more useful than the other for pharma and medical devices; which one is it?