Regulatory Affairs

A Harmonized Approach to Data Integrity

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Data integrity is achievable when data collection is complete, consistent, and accurate (1). Failure to maintain data integrity compromises a company’s ability to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of its products. Escalation of serious regulatory actions related to data integrity violations has prompted the need to assess data integrity compliance and implement systems designed to guarantee it. Comprehensive measures must be taken to ensure that data are attributable, legible, contemporaneous, original, and accurate (ALCOA) (2). Preventive measures need to be…

April 23, 2019

Biosimilars: Challenging the Justifications for Clinical Testing

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The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPIA) of 2009, describes the need for clinical trials as follows (1): “(cc) a clinical study or studies (including the assessment of immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics) that are sufficient to demonstrate safety, purity, and potency in one or more appropriate conditions of use for which the reference product is licensed and intended to be used and for which licensure is sought for the biological product.†However, all the above studies are left…

January 30, 2019

Trends in Real-World Study Design and Postmarketing Commitments in the EU and US: What We Can Learn from Big Data

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When a new medicine is approved, there is under a 25% chance that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will impose, as part of conditional approval, studies conducted to satisfy postmarketing requirements. US regulations governing such studies are found in the 2011 guidance document regarding “Postmarketing Studies and Clinical Trials — Implementation of Section 505(o)(3) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1).†EMA regulations are found in the 2017 “Guideline…

January 30, 2019

Biopharmaceutical Characterization,
Part 1: Biological Assays —
A Conference Report

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In late October 2018, KNect365 brought together more than 250 analytical specialists to discuss characterization of well-characterized biologics in Rockville, MD. Speakers from the US Food and Drug Administration joined experts from leading biopharmaceutical companies, service providers, and consultancies, including BPI editorial advisor Nadine Ritter (president and analytical advisor of Global Biotech Experts). She began the final day moderating a special town-hall session where audience members could pose their regulatory questions to a panel of FDA reviewers, and she ended…

December 18, 2018

Viral Risk Mitigation: A Global Regulatory Perspective

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The production of biologics will always have the risk of viral contamination. Manufacturers have developed a multitiered approach — tailored to individual processes — to prevent adventitious viruses from entering production processes, detect contamination in raw materials and process intermediates, and remove viruses in downstream purification. This article provides an overview of the global regulatory framework to ensure the viral safety of biologics. Past Contamination Events Past contamination events have resulted in corrective and preventative actions to reduce the risk…

October 30, 2018

Cell Culture Media: An Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient or Ancillary Material?

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Cell-based therapies are used to treat diseases that require the replacement of diseased, dysfunctional, and injured cells (1). To produce these therapies, a wide range of reagents and materials such as antibodies, growth factors, and enzymes are used in their manufacturing processes. Such necessary materials are administered through a cell culture medium. Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are the main ingredients that make products therapeutic. Ancillary materials (AMs) and raw materials (RMs) are essential components used during production but are not…

September 27, 2018

Trends in Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls: Next-Generation Technologies and Product Modalities

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New technologies bring new regulatory challenges. The biopharmaceutical industry must be cautious in its implementation of new scientific ideas and technology platforms — no matter how promising those might be. Regulators will look skeptically on any claim that isn’t backed up by good data, and with no solid history of successful use to build on, a company must have all the answers itself. How do compliance professionals anticipate what kinds of questions reviewers will ask when the time comes —…

September 25, 2018

Seamless Transition from R&D to Manufacturing

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Fast and cheap: These criteria are becoming ever more urgent drivers for manufacturers of biologics, faced with increased scrutiny on the costs of developing novel drugs, the lengthy timelines for delivering these drugs to patients, and the tightening competition to capitalize on new targets. The challenge for manufacturers is further heightened by the expectations to deliver on quality as well. Although development and production of molecules such as monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have greatly benefited from the “platformization†of core technologies…

September 14, 2018

Methods on the Move: Addressing Method Transfer Challenges for the Biopharmaceutical Industry

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Analytical method transfers are essential components of the current global biotechnology environment. Analytical method transfer can be defined as “a documented process that qualifies a laboratory (the receiving laboratory) to use a validated analytical test procedure that originated in another laboratory (sending laboratory), thus ensuring that the receiving laboratory has the procedural knowledge and ability to perform the transferred analytical procedure as intended†(1). The goal is to ensure that a method continues to perform in the validated state regardless…

June 20, 2018

Innovators and Biosimilar Companies: Experts Predict Intense Conflicts Ahead

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CPhI Worldwide (organized by UBM) announced last fall the final section findings of the fifth edition of the CPhI Annual Report. Presented live at the meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, the report is now available online. It highlights immediate and long-term trends in pharmaceutical data, regulation, generics, and biosimilars. Four experts gave their views. They warned that the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approach to achieving six-sigma (nearly perfect or 99.9997% defect-free) quality is failing in respect to the pharmaceutical…

June 20, 2018