GMP News

Following the entry into application of the CTR at the beginning of last year, the final version of the "Guideline on the responsibilities of the sponsor with regard to handling and shipping of IMPs" has been published. IMPs may not be used in a clinical trial in a member state of the European Union until the completion of the two-step procedure referred to in this guideline.

The USP General Chapters—Packaging and Distribution Expert Committee is proposing a revision to the Scope section of chapter <661> Plastic Packaging Systems and Their Materials of Construction. The revision is published to clarify the testing expectations that are outlined in <661.1> and <661.2>.

With the publication of the final version of the revised Annex 1 in August, the ECA Foundation's CCS Task Force got together again to update the CCS Guide based on the final Annex 1 version. The new CCS Guide version 2.0 now comprises the revision of quoted passages, the modification and insertion of individual sections and tables as well as an improved clarity and the update of the attachments.

In October, the US FDA issued a Warning Letter to a US sterile manufacturer due to numerous GMP violations. The inspection, which had already taken place from March to April 2022, had revealed numerous deficiencies. The main reasons for the Warning Letter were cross contamination and microbiological contamination of products.

Any change from design or predefined processes requires risk assessment and potential impact evaluation for both the transport process and, consequently, the product. This article discusses the importance of having a structured, compliant Change Control (CC) process in place for medicinal product manufacturers as well as for their qualified logistics vendors.

In November 2022, the U.S. FDA issued a Warning Letter to the U.S. American company Kari Gran Inc. after having inspected its site in July 2022. The Warning Letter mentions the list of cGMP observations for finished products.

The Danish Medicines Agency has revised its guidelines on the requirements and expectations of the QP. In places, these deviate from the requirements of Directive 2001/83/EC, especially with regard to education and experience.

The European Commission published an updated Version of the Questions & Answers relating to the EU Clinical Trials Regulation. What are patient facing documents and how are these documents expected to be submitted ?

Following the delayed 2019 Annual Report of the Good Clinical Practice Inspectors’ Working Group (GCP IWG) published earlier this year, the EMA released the 2020 and 2021 annual GCP reports. An increase in findings related to computer systems is noted compared to the last reports.

The European Commission (EC) amended the current requirements provided in the Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR) for the labelling of investigational medicinal products (IMPs) regarding expiry dates by means of a Delegated Regulation.

Observations made by the inspector during an FDA inspection are listed on the FDA Form 483. The FDA has now published the data for the fiscal year 2022. Deficiencies in the stability programme in the area of "drugs" were mentioned in numerous FDA 483 forms.

In the Pharmacopeial Forum, PF 48(6), a proposal for a revised Chapter <711> Dissolution was published. The purpose of the revision is to replace USP Prednisone Tablets RS with a new Reference Standard, USP Dissolution Performance Verification Standard-Prednisone RS, to qualify the Dissolution Apparatus 1 and Apparatus 2.