Quality control is very often perceived as the last step in manufacturing a product. But quality is not a consequence of quality testing; it must be built into the manufacturing process. At the beginning of the 21st century, the FDA Advisory Committee for Pharmaceutical Science (ACPS) began to address this problem, calling for consistent regulations in designing, analyzing, and controlling pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. As a result, process analytical technology (PAT) was developed providing a framework for innovative pharmaceutical manufacturing and…