Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), member of the Senate Health, Education and Labor Pensions (HELP) Committee, is requesting additional information from the US Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry, concerning the regulation and practice of outsourcing.

To choose the appropriate conveying system, a pharmaceutical manufacturer needs a thorough knowledge of the benefits and limitations of each conveyor type. The following overview compares several types of systems.

PharmTech's monthly newsletter, Equipment & Processing Report, reviews the Editor's Picks for the June 2008 edition: Esco Technologies and Hawk Measurement

Manufacturers have stopped seeing disposable containment as an ad hoc solution, and the technology increasingly incorporates thoughtful design and engineering. The future promises to bring more changes and new applications for disposable containment technology.

The number of clinical-trial investigators overstepping their bounds has grown in the past few years. And, says Congress, the US Food and Drug Administration is taking too long to wrap up unresolved cases.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Union regulatory body overseeing the implementation of the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation, began full operations on June 1.

In an assessment report about medicinal products containing heparin, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA)'s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) said it could not draw firm conclusions about the level of risk associated with unfractionated heparins (UFH) contaminated with oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS). Nevertheless, CHMP recommended that contaminated lots be withdrawn completely.

Also, Shire voluntarily recalls ADHD patch Daytrana

The steering committee of the International Conference on Harmonization and its expert working groups adopted Quality Guideline Q10 "Quality Systems" last week at a meeting in Portland, Oregon.

The US Food and Drug Administration issued a new guidance Monday on indexing structured product labeling. The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research will begin indexing structured product labeling in the product labeling for human drug and biologic products.

The transatlantic cooperation of the European Commission, the European Medicines Agency, and the US Food and Drug Administration was recognized at the Second Meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council, held mid May in Brussels. The TEC is tasked with overseeing and accelerating government-to-government cooperation to advance economic integration between the United States and the European Union.

The California Senate passed SB 1096 on May 29, voting to amend the state?s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act to allow pharmacies to provide third parties with patient information for the purpose of mailing prescription refill reminders and drug information directly to patients.

The US Food and Drug Administration advised patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to switch to hydrofluoroalkane-propelled albuterol inhalers now because chlorofluorocarbon-propelled inhalers will not be available in the US after Dec. 31, 2008.

The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association is evaluating proposed legislation, The Climate Security Act of 2008 (S. 3036), which directs the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a program for decreasing greenhouse emissions.

The global and US biotechnology industries performed well in 2007 as each recorded higher revenues and inched toward aggregate profitability.

As part of a larger effort to address drug counterfeiting, the European Commission is seeking to tighten manufacturing and related supply-chain requirements for active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Customers complaining lead to some serious explaining.

Brief pharmaceutical news items for June 2008.

Risk management, and its benefits for patients, plays a big role at the PDA Annual Meeting.

New products for sterile filling, quality control, and anticounterfeiting measures gained notice.

With rising drug deveopment costs and burdensome clinical trials, Indian-based firms are transferring their research departments to other entities in hopes of saving cash, mitigating risk, and ultimately, buying back the rewards.

The authors focus on how single-use systems effectively control three potential sources of common contamination: cross contamination, microbial contamination and biologic contamination of the process facility.

Letting the public inside the drug development process may increase their faith in what we do.

Although the spotlight is now on nanoparticulate delivery for biologicals, other strategies have proven successful.

The good, the bad, and the ugly about direct-to-consumer advertising.

Scientists are uncovering signaling systems that operate via cannabinoid messenger molecules.

An ambitious survey of characterization techniques presents current information.

On 7–9 May I attended ERBI's Biopartnering Exchange in Cambridge (UK), an event that brought together national and international entrepreneurs, senior executives and industry experts of the biotechnology sector.