Chemistry

21
Feb
Colored skittles with different sizes

Less is More!

Today, the FDA published in a final rule (here) a significant revision to the regulatory definition of biological product that will have a major impact on what product will be regulated under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), and which will be regulated solely under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).  Specifically, the […]

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21
Feb
Leadership Concepts with Arrows on Blackboad Background

Data Integrity – Management’s Responsibilities

Since the initial April 2016 draft published, the pharmaceutical industry has been working to toward complying with the FDA guidance on Data Integrity and Compliance With Drug CGMP (here) which was finalized in December 2018.  One passage in the introduction of the guidance has resonated with me: “Management’s involvement in and influence on these strategies […]

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18
Feb
Businessman examines a tablet with a magnifying glass. Concept of internet security

Out-of-Specification Investigations – Lessons Learned, or Not?

The FDA Guidance for Industry, Investigating Out‑of-Specification (OOS) Test Results for Pharmaceutical Production, was published in October 2006 (here).  The pharmaceutical industry has had about 14 years to learn how to comply to this guidance.  A quick survey of recent Form 483s and Warning Letters would indicate that there is still much to be learned […]

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14
Feb
Hand Holding a Chemical Solution Test-tube in a bio-Chemistry DNA Research Laboratory

CBER Publishes a Boatload of New Gene Therapy Guidances

  January was a gangbuster month for the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) with regard to publication of gene therapy (GT) guidance documents!  A total of six final guidelines and one draft guideline on GT products were issued.  These included: Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control Information for Human Gene Therapy Investigational New Drug […]

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13
Feb
Fingerprint

What Is It? – Identity Testing Re-visited

In earlier blogs, we have written about specific technical items related to identity testing.  However, a review of Warning Letters published on the US FDA website for the months of December 2019 and January 2020, revealed three Warning Letters citing instances of failures to perform identity testing of active pharmaceutical ingredients prior to the manufacturing […]

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06
Feb
Abstract Molecular Structure

Revisiting the “Novelty” of Novel Excipients

February 3, 2020 was the last day to comment on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) notice in the Federal Register on the Novel Excipient Review Program Proposal; Request for Information and Comments (here), which we reported on in a previous blog post (here).  In this notice, the FDA had proposed a pilot program related […]

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02
Jul

How To Address Nitrosamines In The Pharmaceutical World

Contract Pharma published an article back in May discussing the issue of Nitrosamines uninvitedly found in drug products. The article’s author, Aloka Srinivasan, VP of Lachman Consultants, helps us better understand the presence of Nitrosamines and how to address them. Nitrosamines has recently re-surfaced in the pharmaceutical world due to FDA and other international agencies […]

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28
May

USP Chapter Spectroscopy Identification Tests – Controlling Your Identities!

This post was co-authored by Thu Truong, J.D., Senior Associate, Science and Technology Group, and Ron George, Ph.D, Director, Science and Technology Group Prior to USP 42 – NF 37 (effective April 30, 2019), USP Chapter <197>, Spectroscopy Identification Tests, stated, “The IR absorption spectrum of a substance, compared with that obtained concomitantly for the […]

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20
Dec

Happy Holidays from Us to You!

To all of our readers – Have a happy holiday season and a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.  The Lachman blog will be taking a break over the holiday starting Friday, December 21st (unless something extremely urgent occurs) and I hope that all of you will rejoin me in the New Year as […]

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