Regulatory Oversight and Compliance

FDA sent a warning letter to ACRX Specialty Pharmacy Inc. detailing violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and deficiencies in sterile manufacturing practices.

The document gives guidance on the limited population pathway for antibacterial and antifungal drugs.

As biopharma companies and research institutes work to develop vaccines against COVID-19, policy makers and health officials debate strategies for ensuring fair and equitable distribution of anticipated preventives.

Regulatory, analytical, and process concerns must be taken into account.

A data-integrity risk assessment tool has been developed for use with standalone R&D data-acquisition and processing software.

Efforts are already underway to harmonize standards and regulatory approaches for testing of raw and ancillary materials, but continuous improvement is required.

Efforts by regulators seek common approaches to clinical research and biopharmaceutical production needed to wipe out the coronavirus pandemic globally.

EU regulators are requesting more effective action be taken to tackle serious impurities in APIs and finished products.

When in-person training may not be feasible, there are still opportunities to ensure employees receive the required training, says Susan J. Schniepp, distinguished fellow, Regulatory Compliance Associates.

Carcinogenic compounds have been found in a number of top-selling drugs, leading to recalls and bans. Preventing problems requires working closely with contract testing and development partners as well as API and other suppliers.

EMA has started a review of dexamethasone as a treatment for adults with COVID-19 who require respiratory support and have been admitted to hospital.

EMA's CHMP has adopted a positive opinion for Dapivirine Vaginal Ring for women in non-EU countries where HIV disease burden is high.

Celltrion Healthcare has announced that the EC has granted marketing authorization for its subcutaneous formulation of Remsima (infliximab, CT-P13).

The approval comes after positive results were met in a single-arm, open-label study that resulted in FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the one-time therapy.

Patient advocates, research experts, and industry are calling for more user fee revenues to support CBER programs to advance innovative therapies.

The European Medicines Agency has set up an infrastructure to support real-world monitoring of the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

Should therapies and vaccines be cheap or free in a pandemic and would that really dry up innovation?

Industry should be seeking more information from FDA on how it will restart its current inspection program.

The Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued its final opinion on measures for companies to take that will limit the presence of nitrosamines in human medicines.

Global regulatory authorities have published a report describing the aligned positions on COVID-19 vaccine development, which were agreed upon by meeting participants of the second workshop on COVID-19 vaccine development.

The agency is hoping to restart performing on-site domestic inspections during the week of July 20, 2020 depending on factors such as the status of COVID-19 in the state of inspection and local rules and guidelines.

FDA officials are moving to clarify standards and requirements for vetting and approving viable preventives.

The European Commission has approved Lynparza (olaparib) for use in patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) metastatic pancreatic cancer within the European Union.

The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM) has published a new general chapter (2.6.32) in the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) supplement 10.3.

It is important to consider the feasibility, benefits, and limitations of each type of audit in advance.

There is much to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, but future success may hinge upon the capacity for regulatory bodies to harmonize approaches.

EMA is facing a dilemma in trying to restore activities back to normal after relocating and the COVID-19 pandemic.

FDA Commissioner Hahn commits to a science-based review and approval process.

483s and Warning Letters Point to Inadequate Quality Oversight

The authors present a simple way to qualify a swab-sampling procedure for its ability to recover residues of a small-molecule API from cleaned equipment surfaces.