FDA Warning Letter: GMP Deficiencies at US Pharma Manufacturer, e.g. in Water System
The FDA has recently issued another Warning Letter to an US pharmaceutical manufacturer describing serious GMP deficiencies. This concerns among others the water system, the QC laboratory and quality assurance.
Warning Letter for US Contract Manufacturer: Cleaning, Contamination Control and Stability Studies criticised
In March, the American authority FDA issued a Warning Letter to a US pharmaceutical manufacturer due to numerous violations of GMP. Among other things, inadequate cleaning of the equipment, errors in the stability studies as well as in contamination control were found.
US FDA Warning Letter to India: Pharmaceutical Water and Other Deficiencies
In January 2019, the US American FDA issued a Warning Letter to a manufacturer from India. Among other things, the pharmaceutical water system was criticized. Read more here.
Is the Sanitization Temperature for Water Systems too high?
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.
Does Purified Water (PW) have to be tested for Endotoxins?
Within the framework of risk analysis, qualification and preparation of sampling plans for new purified water (PW) systems, the question arises as to whether PW should be tested for endotoxins. Read more here.
New FDA Guideline: Quality Aspects for Continuous Manufacturing
In February 2019, the FDA published a new draft guideline that addresses quality aspects of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. It covers topics related to development, process validation, marketing authorisation and routine production.
In February 2019, the WHO published a new Guideline for comment on the production of WFI using non-distillation methods. Read more about the draft entitled "Production of Water for Injection by Means other than Distillation".
In June 2018 already, the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) announced the coming issuance of a new ICH Guideline on continuous manufacturing. Now, the ICH has released further news about the planned content of the new guideline ICH Q13.
The Association of German Engineers (VDI ="Verein Deutscher Ingenieure") has recently released two new draft guidelines from the area of clean room technology: one regarding central air handling systems, and the other one regarding air filter systems.
Revision of EMA's Guideline on the Use of Pharmaceutical Water
In the course of the revision of the European Pharmacopoeia which allows the production of WFI with other methods than distillation, the revision of EMA's "Guideline on the quality of water for pharmaceutical use" has become necessary.
In the course of an inspection conducted in October 2018, the Italian health authority discovered several GMP deviations in the areas of sterile manufacturing, packaging and QC testing at an Italian manufacturer. Read more details about the Non-Compliance Report which can now be found in EMA's inspection database.
USP article on pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing
In the latest edition of the Pharmacopoeial Forum 44(6), the US pharmacopoeia USP has published a so-called Stimuli Article on pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing. Apart from important definitions, the document contains further information on material properties and characteristics as well as risk management approaches for continuous manufacturing.
A new international technical committee ISO/TC 313 Packaging Machinery has been founded, which will be responsible for establishing international standards for packaging equipment and systems.
New VDI Guidelines for Barrier Systems, Medical Devices and HVAC systems
In August, the Association of German Engineers (VDI ="Verein Deutscher Ingenieure") released three interesting VDI guidelines. The topics addressed are tightness of containment systems, identification of critical impurities in the manufacturing process of medical devices as well as requirements on the planning and implementation of central HVAC systems. Find out more about the new VDI guidelines.