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Pfizer invests $200m in conjugation, pegylation and QC at Ireland plant

21-Sep-2011 - Pfizer says investment in Irish manufacturing facility will boost vaccine conjugation and pegylation capacity and establish a new QC testing hub.

SAFC sets sights on a "proactive" supply chain management system

21-Sep-2011 - SAFC is putting special focus on supply chain and quality management as part of its new strategic plan.

Rx-360 begins audit sharing to raise ingredient quality

21-Sep-2011 - Rx-360 has begun its audit sharing programme to increase knowledge about suppliers and the quality of pharmaceutical raw materials.

Reformulation targeted in FDA unapproved drug plan

20-Sep-2011 - The FDA is targeting companies that reformulate drugs to evade enforcement as it tries to crackdown on the 1000s of products marketed without approval.

Pharma discharge checks called for to protect waterways

20-Sep-2011 - Researchers have called for closer monitoring of pharma manufacturing discharges after detecting endocrine disruption in fish downstream from a Sanofi plant.

Vaccine adverse events linked to virus disrupting ingredient

19-Sep-2011 - Use of deoxycholate to chemically disrupt influenza viruses during vaccine manufacture could be linked to adverse reactions in children, a journal reports.

FDA asks for powers to stop another heparin-like crisis

15-Sep-2011 - The FDA needs additional powers to update its “antiquated, domestically-focused statute” and end the “competitive advantage of non-compliance”, an agency official said.

Lonza MA plant sent FDA GMP warning letter about Eisai API

14-Sep-2011 - The FDA has sent a warning letter to Lonza’s Hopkinton, MA plant after inspectors found faults with how it produces an oncology API for Eisai.

US to Puerto Rico knowledge transfer cause of quality problems, study

08-Sep-2011 - Difficulties transferring know-how from US Pharmas to plants in Puerto Rico may be responsible for the high incidence of manufacturing quality problems on the island, according to the authors of a new study.

In-Pharmatechnologist.com’s GMP regulatory development roundup

01-Sep-2011 - in-Pharmatechnologist.com presents a round-up of the latest regulatory developments, including a guide for GMP newbies from Health Canada, an internationally-flavoured revision of the EMA’s rules on batch certification and the EDQM’s latest thoughts membrane-based on WFI production.

QbD support toned down by FDA in transdermal guidance

30-Aug-2011 - The FDA has toned down its support of QbD in final guidance on cutting residual drug in transdermal delivery systems following industry criticism.

Cost-cutting tablet splitting prompts FDA guidance

30-Aug-2011 - The rise of tablet splitting has prompted the FDA to advise manufacturers on what data is needed to support applications for scored doses.

News in brief

Counterfeiters target countries with weak laws says Antigua Pharma Society

24-Aug-2011 - Drug counterfeiters are using the Caribbean as a transport hub to ship fake pharmaceutical around the world according to the Antigua Pharmaceutical Society.

Brazil & USP ink deals to up quality, harmonise standards

23-Aug-2011 - The USP is strengthening ties to the Brazilian pharmaceutical sector to improve quality and drive harmonisation of standards.

Silica-based cartridges boost metal removal at AstraZeneca

22-Aug-2011 - AstraZeneca has adopted and scaled-up silica-based cartridges for removal of metal impurities at its pilot plant.

FDA and generic drug sector agree ‘epoch making’ plant inspection fee plan

18-Aug-2011 - The generic drug industry and the US FDA have reached an agreement that would see the former fund the latter’s overseas facility inspection programme to the tune of $299m a year, according to a number of reports.

Biosimilar assessment a goal of FDA modernisation plan

18-Aug-2011 - The FDA is prioritising development of technologies to compare biosimilars to innovator products in its plan to modernise regulatory science.

Pfizer “aggressively” pursuing cost saving real-time release

10-Aug-2011 - Pfizer is “aggressively” moving toward real-time release (RTR) and believes return on investment can be realised in a year.

Hyaluron buy a “money pit” for AMRI, analyst warns

09-Aug-2011 - FDA scrutiny of the Burlington, MA sterile plant AMRI bought in 2010 has made the takeover a “money pit”, an analyst said.

First-to-file race slowing QbD adoption in generics

08-Aug-2011 - Generic manufacturers can benefit from QbD but fears it will hinder companies in the race to be first-to-file are slowing progress, a VP at Teva said.

EC revises stability testing

08-Aug-2011 - The EC has updated stability testing guidance to cover procedures for variations, such as change in batch size, to marketing authorisations.

final update

Joint API plant inspection programme could be extended globally, says EMA

04-Aug-2011 - The final results of the US FDA, EMA, TGA joint manufacturing facility inspection programme will make for interesting reading for API producers as they strongly hint the approach is here to stay.

HP launches ‘cloud’ track and trace system to help fight counterfeits

04-Aug-2011 - HP has launched a global authentication service it says will help identify counterfeit and stolen pharmaceuticals.

Engineering can cut protein aggregation during storage

02-Aug-2011 - Protein engineering is an untapped method for limiting post-production aggregation that causes immunogenicity, academics say.

Brooks continues to build in biobanking with Nexus Biosystems buy

02-Aug-2011 - The pharma biobanking and compound management services sector welcomed its newest member last week with Brooks Automation’s acquisition of Nexus Biosystems.

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