GMP News - APIs and Excipients

The U.S. FDA has concluded that a new regulatory pathway for CBD is needed that balances the desire for access to CBD products with the regulatory oversight needed to manage risks.

Furthermore, the "Falsified Medicine Directive (2011/62/EU)" requires a "Written Confirmation" for the import of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from third countries. The APIs imported from countries on the so-called "White List" are an exception to this. In future, Canada will also be listed on this "White List".

There is currently an ongoing discussion about the microbiological quality requirements for medical Cannabis depending on the route of administration. To move forward authors from the FDA recently published an article about a microbiological study of bulk Cannabis.

In December 2022, the U.S. FDA issued a Warning Letter to the Brazilian company "Nortec Quimica SA" after having inspected its site in Rio de Janeiro in July 2022. Significant violations of cGMP regulations for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are listed and a long list of Data Integrity remedation activies is required.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a Warning Letter to a drug repackaging and relabeling facility located in Pennsylvania. The document summarizes significant deviations from current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). It also addresses Good Distribution Practice (GDP) aspects.

As recently reported, the "ICH guideline Q3C (R8) on impurities: guideline for residual solvents)" has been updated and can be consulted on the ICH website under the section "Quality Guidelines". As a result, the USP chapter "<467> Residual Solvents" has now been revised and published for comment on the USP Pharmacopeial Forum website.

In December 2022, the US-American FDA published the draft of the so-called document entitled "ANDAs: Pre-Submission Facility Correspondence Related to Prioritized Generic Drug Submissions" for comment. This is the second revision of the guidance document, which has been in place since 2017. It is now open for comment until 07 March 2023.