Risk Management

Risk-Based Biologics: CMC Flexibilities in the EU Regulatory System

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Pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies strive to foster scientific excellence in drug development and evaluation so that members of the public can access the high-quality medicines that they need. Recent European Medicines Agency (EMA) approvals for COVID-19 vaccines highlight those organizational accomplishments and showcase the application of risk-based chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) flexibilities that are embedded within the European Union (EU) regulatory system. Many of the CMC flexibilities outlined herein were established for PRIME (priority medicine), a scheme that…

March 21, 2023

Learning Management: Evaluation of Retraining Risk at Indian Pharmaceutical Companies

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Human medicinal product manufacturers face complexity and uncertainties regarding operational performance. Effective training management plays a major role in support and implementation of a pharmaceutical quality system. The minimum regulatory requirement is to employ adequately trained personnel with sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience. Software-based e-learning training methods are used widely across pharmaceutical companies. Achieving quality compliance depends significantly on several factors, from training preparation to assessments. To comply with the current regulatory requirements, pharmaceutical companies need to implement learning management…

March 21, 2023

The State of Quality Risk Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Commentary on the Draft ICH Q9 Revision

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The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) released a long-awaited draft revision of its Q9 guidance on quality risk management (QRM) for public consultation in December 2021 (1). First published in 2005, ICH Q9 has been instrumental in highlighting the importance of QRM in both the small- and large-molecule pharmaceutical industries. It was the first comprehensive guidance to explain how QRM could be used to identify, assess, and control risks to drug-product quality…

December 12, 2022

Expanding Considerations in Cleaning Validation: Risks Posed By Indirect Product-Contact Surfaces on Pharmaceutical Equipment

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Cleaning validation receives a great deal of attention within the biopharmaceutical industry, not least because of the risks of product adulteration and hence patient harm from improperly cleaned surfaces (notwithstanding additional concerns such as operator protection). Traditionally, cleaning validation efforts focus on direct product-contact surfaces. However, the hazard and resultant risk posed from indirect product-contact surfaces should not be underestimated. Consideration of the risks presented by indirect surfaces should figure into every contamination-control strategy. Understanding of these risks cannot be…

October 20, 2022

Building a Solid Foundation for a Pharmaceutical Quality System: Presenting QRM and KM As United Enablers

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Risk, knowledge, uncertainty, decision-making: They are among the building blocks at the center of the biopharmaceutical industry that guide the daily operations of biopharmaceutical organizations, from the work of scientists during discovery to technicians manufacturing each batch. Indeed, the biopharmaceutical industry is a knowledge-based industry in which organizations satisfy patient needs while gaining competitive advantage by their ability to grow, transfer, and apply knowledge rapidly and effectively. Many people who read the word knowledge have a certain implicit interpretation of…

September 28, 2022

Managing Host-Cell Proteins: Robust Risk-Assessment Frameworks for Process-Related Impurities in Biological Products

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Although biomanufacturing processes are designed to generate highly pure drug substances, some host-cell proteins (HCPs) copurify with target proteins and thus remain in finished drug products. Biopharmaceutical developers are keenly aware that such impurities must be minimized to protect patients. HCPs can activate several kinds of immune responses in treated patients, including production of antidrug antibodies and induction of cross-reactivity with therapeutic proteins (1–5). HCPs also can diminish drug efficacy, potency, and/or stability (6, 7). Thus, regulatory guidances such as…

May 20, 2022

eBook: Speed to IND — Practical Wisdom for Uncertain Times

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Even in “normal” times, companies need to balance time to filing an investigational new drug (IND) application against careful consideration of processes that can have far-reaching consequences on the quality of biologic products. But supply-chain interruptions still feature prominently in the news during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. From equipment to chemicals to plastic components, end users, their suppliers, and (critically) their suppliers’ suppliers all are feeling growing uncertainty about production timelines and availability of materials. In this eBook, BPI’s editor…

October 28, 2021

Risk Determination of Potential Mycotoxin Exposure to Patients: Testing Recombinant Human Factor VII from Transgenic Rabbits

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Sevenfact eptacog beta is a new recombinant human factor VIIa (rFVIIa) developed by LFB SA in Les Ulis, France, as a bypassing agent (BPA) for treatment and control of bleeding in people with hemophilia A and B and inhibitors (1, 2). The product was approved for use in adults and adolescents by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2020 (3). It is expressed in the milk of transgenic rabbits and purified through a multistep process using both…

October 28, 2021

Preparing for a Virtual Audit

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Audits are a vital quality-management tool of the biopharmaceutical industry. Whether the objective is to verify supplier or partner qualifications, contribute to corrective and preventative actions (CAPA), or fulfill regulatory compliance requirements, conducting proactive auditing is key to successful operations. Over the past year, virtual audits —also known as remote or distance audits — have enabled biopharmaceutical companies to meet compliance and quality assurance demands despite COVID-19–related travel restrictions and social-distancing protocols. Notwithstanding the challenges of virtual audits, the benefits…

September 30, 2021

No More Sleepwalking: New Mindsets for Manufacturing Cell and Gene Therapies at Commercial Scale

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Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) offer potential cures to some of the most challenging illnesses of our time. The number of such therapies approved for market is set to surge in the next 10 years (1). Yet current manufacturing approaches are not fit for purpose. Biomanufacturing must adapt to prevent the industry from unintentionally sleepwalking into causing harm to patients. Some urgently needed changes could come with learning about the mindset of the medical-devices industry. Background and Current State After…

September 30, 2021