Impurities Forum - Part I + II

Programme

Part I: Identification and Determination of Impurities

Impurities in Context – The big picture and roadmap of the Impurities Forum
Impurities analysis in Drug Substances and Drug Products
Impurity profiling in synthetic drug substances
Qualification of impurities
Degradation studies
Identification of chiral impurities, polymorphic phases and new impurities
Residual solvents
Impurities in starting materials and intermediates
Pharmacopoeial tests and acceptance criteria
Drug product specifications and parametric release
Inorganic impurities

Practical aspects of method validation for impurity determination
Important ICH and FDA guidelines
Quantitation of impurities
How to define an impurity profile (stress tests)
Reference substances
Validation of methods at various development stages
Statistical approaches to method validation (LOD & LOQ)

Analytical techniques for determination of impurities
Purity analysis by HPLC, impurity profile
Residual solvents by GC
Inorganic impurities (heavy metals, sulphated ash)
For chiral compounds in addition: enantiomeric purity and proof of the absolute
configuration

Leachables and Extractables
Why should Extractables & Leachables be assessed?
Regulatory requirements of EMA and US-FDA
Compendial requirements and foodstuff regulations
PQRI and other recommendations for Safety Thresholds and Best Practices for
Extractables & Leachables testing

Impurity Qualification in Biotechnology Products
Process related impurities: Host cell DNA and host cell protein
Drug substance related impurities: Degradation products and ICH Guideline Q5C
Assay validation: Critical aspects
Process related impurities or contaminants: Endogenous retroviruses

Part II: Elemental Impurities

The new ICH Q3D Guidance on Elemental Impurities – authorities expectations
Scope and applicability of the ICH Q3D guideline
Similarities and differences with the EU-Metal Catalysts guideline
What is the link with the EP and USP monographs?
The classification system of heavy metals and metal catalysts in the proposed guideline, thresholds.
Implications to the API industry – additional requirements – analytical work required – costs
What do authorities expect?

Utilisation of Data as part of an Integrated EI Risk Assessment Process - Role of Industry Collaboration /FDA-IPEC Excipient Study Data
An overview - Utilisation of Data as part of an Integrated EI Risk Assessment Process
Practical Implementation Considerations
Potential Sources of Elemental Impurities in the Finished Product
- API
- Equipment
- Container-closure system
- Excipients
Data sharing - Elemental Impurities Pharma Consortium – current status – future aims
Conclusions

Safety assessment of metallic impurities in oral dosage forms – limits and
Permitted Daily Exposure (PDE)
General principles of safety assessment
How to determine PDEs
Conversion between PDEs and concentration limits
Justification for impurity levels higher than the PDE
Case studies

Analytical methods to determine metallic impurities
Principles and characteristics of the most common spectrometric techniques AAS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS
Compound methods (sample preparation plus spectrometric detection and
quantification)
Special considerations for trace-elemental analysis
Application-based approach for choice of methodology
Analytical process (method development, validation strategy, routine testing)

QC lab infrastructure and equipment for metal impurities analytics
Process-oriented laboratory design
Basic components of a trace elemental laboratory
Approaches for contamination control
Handling of highly active pharmaceutical compounds in a trace elemental laboratory: operator protection versus product protection?
Accessories for interference control in ICP-MS

Identification and assessment of potential elemental impurities in pharmaceutical excipients
Potential sources of elemental impurities in pharmaceutical excipients
Important aspects of excipients safety assessment
Excipients supplier qualification
Classification of elemental impurities: examples

An approach to risk assessing for elemental/metallic impurities
ICHQ3D - what’s expected
An example of a Risk Tool Macro
What information is required for Skip Testing – Ph.Eur./ICHQ3D expectations
Regulatory filing – Where do I include information relating to a Risk Assessment