GMP NEWS 2024

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a new Warning Letter to a Chinese manufacturer of over-the-counter (OTC) drug products. The violations were identified during the FDA's review of records submitted by the company in response to an official request.

The revision 1 of the document "Quality overall summary (QOS) template for CEP applications", which was updated in January, has been published on the EDQM website. The document was first published in 2015 and is intended to provide assistance for CEP applicants.

The first version of the document "Quality Agreement Guideline & Template" was published in 2009, updated in 2017 and has now been revised again. Version 3 of the guideline was published in January 2024 and is now available on the APIC website in the "Publications" tab.

A court in the UK has sentenced a pharmaceutical company and its former director to heavy fines. The defendant had admitted to knowingly submitting falsified stability data to the MHRA in order to obtain a Marketing Authorization for a product. This was preceded by years of investigation by the authority.

The nitrosamine Q&A document "Questions and answers for marketing authorization holders/applicants on the CHMP Opinion for the Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 referral on nitrosamine impurities in human medicinal products" of the EMA/CMDh contains three annexes (Appendix 1-3) in its current version of October 2023. In February 2024, Appendix 1 was updated again and fifteen new substances were added.

The final text for USP <383> Cured Silicone Elastomers for Pharmaceutical Packaging and Manufacturing Components has been published in the USP. The chapter will become official on 1 December 2027. Early adoption of the requirements in this chapter is permitted by USP.

The wholesale distribution of medicinal products requires a Wholesale Distribution Authorisation (WDA). But where actually to find reliable information on whether a particular company is in possession of such an authorisation or GDP certificate? Depending on the location of the company in question, certain databases are available for searching.

The FDA is announcing a newly published report on the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) prepared on the findings of a collaborative project with FDA to understand the barriers to timely, accurate and complete registration and reporting of summary results information for clinical trials. According to the report, the major challenge was a lack of understanding on the part of the Responsible Party regarding the types of trials that must be registered, when the trial should be registered and when and for which trials summary results information must be submitted.

Swissmedic, the Swiss national authorisation and supervisory authority for drugs and medical products, has published a new document on "Shipment under Quarantine". It clarifies some situations in which a shipment under quarantine of active substances, intermediate drug products and finished drug products would be acceptable to inspectors.