GMP News - Herbal Medicinal Products (incl. Cannabis)

An increasing number of companies with no previous GMP experience are entering the pharmaceutical sector to cultivate, process and manufacture medical cannabis products. Therefore, the MHRA recently posted how the required licences are granted by the agency.

The final version of Ph. Eur. 2.8.2 Foreign Matter in herbal drugs has been published in Ph. Eur. 11.1. The revised chapter clarifies that the quantitative limits for foreign matter only apply to foreign organs and foreign elements; other foreign elements should, as far as possible, be absent.

Following the recently introduced new Ph. Eur. chapter 5.26 Implementation of pharmacopoeial procedures, the EDQM published some examples to provide users with practical guidance. How can the critical factors potentially affecting the analytical procedure performance be identified?

The EMA Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) published the minutes for the HMPC meeting held in May 2022. The Meeting Protocol contains several interesting developments regarding Cannabis. Will it be possible for regulatory submissions to use the well-established medicinal use pathway in the EU?

The European Pharmacopoeia Commission published the 8th edition of the Technical Guide for the Elaboration of Monographs. The guide helps when drafting monographs and transferring analytical methods into a compendial procedure. The previous version of the guide dated back to 2015.

The Swissmedic website for authorization of herbal medicinal products (HMPs) has been completely revised and updated. It provides information on simplified authorization procedures for HMPs, e.g. for "HMPs with known active substance".

The FDA posted an article on the ways the FDA is regulating human drugs and biological products, animal drugs, medical devices, tobacco products, food, and cosmetics. How can you know for sure that a product is FDA-approved?