GMP News - Aseptic / Microbiology

The WHO has reacted to the changes in the European Pharmacopoeia by issuing a draft guideline on the production of WFI (Water for Injection). The commentary phase is open to the public, comments can be submitted until 20 September 2019.

According to the pharmacopoeias, parenteralia, i.e. sterile medicinal products for injection purposes, must be 100% visually inspected. In addition to damages to the primary container, the absence of particles has also to be checked. But do these medicinal products also have to be 100% free of particles? Read more here.

In May, the FDA published a Warning Letter to a US American sterile manufacturer of ophthalmic drugs which highlights serious deficiencies, especially in sterile production and in the general understanding of GMP. Read more here.

Due to the deficiencies discovered during an inspection performed in July 2018, the US FDA has now issued a Warning Letter to a US pharmaceutical manufacturer of homeopathic drug products. Microbiological impurities in the products and the water used to manufacture the medicinal products are an essential aspect of the complaint.

The most common method of preventing microbiological contamination in a water system is thermal sanitisation. There are systems in which the pharmaceutical water is stored hot and systems that are heated cyclically to an elevated, germicidal temperature. However, excessive temperatures not only increase costs, they can also damage the materials. Read more here.

The European Commission and the EDQM have published a new chapter of the European Pharmacopoeia for testing bacterial endotoxins with recombinant factor C (rFC) for public comment.