Quality & Compliance
#7: Quality Systems Approach to Pharmaceutical CGMP Regulations
In August 2002, the FDA announced the Pharmaceutical CGMPs for the 21st Century Initiative, which explained FDA’s intent of integrating quality systems and risk management approaches, and had a goal...
Regulatory Sciences
#10: Investigator Responsibilities – Protecting the Rights, Safety, & Welfare of Study Subjects
In October 2009, the FDA issued a guidance document regarding its expectations for investigators during the conduct of clinical investigations. The guidance, entitled Investigator...
Quality & Compliance
How critical is the Technology Transfer phase of new drug development?
During the development phase of a new drug, great pains are taken to characterize the molecule and to run a myriad of laboratory and animal tests to determine the product attributes, toxicology...
FDA Addresses Extrapolating Adult Data for Pediatric Use
In 2004, the FDA issued a guidance document, entitled “Premarket Assessment of Pediatric Medical Devices.” The guidance stated that, when consistent with scientific principles, data can be...
Quality & Compliance
Value Found in FDA Warning Letter Reviews
Starting with the issuance of a 483, the stepwise FDA enforcement process can be illustrated as follows: Given the seriousness of a Seizure and Injunction scenario, not to mention potential jail time...
The FDA’s Enforcement of Section 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
The FDA publishes weekly enforcement reports highlighting drugs that have been recalled during the previous week. Over the past several months these reports have been littered with hundreds of...
Quality & Compliance
Project Bullying
Believe it or not, project bullying in the workplace does exist. It is not a threat only at schools and on playgrounds. Project bullying can come for any source including the Project Manager, the...
Learn Your Lessons Well: How Regulatory Strategies and Clinical Trial Design Affect Approvability
A recent analysis by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development places the price tag of bringing a new drug to market at around $2.6 billion. The reason for this is simple: failure. Drugs...
Why Are My Swab Recoveries So Low?
Cleaning Validation and GMP reviews of those protocols are challenging. They become even more challenging at a Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) where compliance assessments to in-house...
Quality & Compliance
Continued Cleaning Effectiveness: What Are You Doing? - Part II
My last blog focused on the industry trends concerning cleaning validation verification. Through a quick poll we found that out of twenty-three respondents, approximately fifty (50) percent are doing...
FDA Updates Informed Consent Guidance
FDA recently updated its informed consent guidance in the form of an Information Sheet. The new document reflects the Agency’s current thinking on the informed consent process utilized in...
Quality & Compliance
The Cost of Inadequately Scheduling Cleaning Validation
Ever wonder why some—most—projects don’t go as planned? Let me take a chance at explaining what I have observed in the last few decades. Firstly, let us assume that you have contracted a well-known...
Ready for cGMP Validation: Gate Seven of the Nine Gate Transfer Process
Today, Bob Beall is back with the next gate in the Nine Gate Transfer Process. If you have missed any of the previous steps in this process, you can review them here: Gate 1: Assessment Gate 2:...
Formulation and Process Development: Gate 6 of the Nine Gate Transfer Process for Moving Production
Today, we are continuing our blog series on the Nine Gate Transfer Process for Moving Production from Site to Site, with Gate 6: Formulation and Process Development. If you have missed any previous...
FDA Revisits the Topic of INDs for Dietary Supplements
One of the fundamental disconnects in the dietary supplement world is that despite the fact that manufacturers of dietary supplements are not allowed to make claims regarding effects on diseases,...
Quality & Compliance
What’s the Skinny on Dietary Supplements?
One doesn't have to spend much time in a pharmacy, grocery store or even a typical American house to see that dietary supplements have found a place in people's lives. In fact, roughly 54% of U.S....