From the news stories on the price fixing suits, to the reported revelations about quality in the generic drug industry, or to the publication of a book titled “Bottle of Lies”, it has not been a good start to the news cycle for the generic drug industry this week. The report on price fixing was met with a response to 60 Minutes May 12,
Browsing the daily articles is always fun, whether it is trolling for stories of interest or for something that just makes you want to start banging your head against your keyboard. Today I read an article (here) from the Times of India’s business section. It outlined the number of approvals from Indian-based companies,
Well, for us old folks, change is always something that makes us queasy. The newly-designed FDA website stirred those feeling all over again as we try to navigate the new links and find the information that was once at our fingertips (or at least in our bookmarks). There were some wrong turns and some dead links along the way,
Back in 2016, FDA indicated that it was planning to issue a guidance document to explain to firms how to extend expiration dating for doxycycline tablets and capsules held in national stockpiles (here) . Doxycycline is stored in national stockpiles for treatment of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) or treatment of inhalational anthrax in the event of an anthrax emergency.
As always, Lachman Consultants looks to provide excellence in all phases of serving our clients’ needs, so we paid close attention to the various speakers, panels and general goings-on at the 2019 ISPE Europe meeting to take the pulse of the industry. We also spoke to many of the show’s attendees, and the takeaways from our many observations and conversations covered a variety of topics.
As the FDA and industry prepare for Dr. Gottlieb’s departure from the FDA tomorrow, he and Deputy Commissioner Anna Abram issued a statement (here) on the FDA’s 2019 priorities to improve the quality of compounded drugs. As the statement notes, compounded drug products are not FDA-approved and, thus, can pose a serious threat to the public if not prepared properly.
In the not-too-distant past (April 2015), the FDA held a public hearing on potential changes to the enforcement policies and the regulatory approach associated with the marketing of homeopathic drug products. The FDA indicated that it has not had a comprehensive review of the enforcement policies related to these products to reflect changes in the homeopathic market in over twenty-five years (twenty‑seven years now).
As many dietary supplement marketers are essentially virtual companies, all manufacturing and testing is performed by organizations contracted by the marketer. In the ten years or so since the dietary supplement GMPs went into effect, control of these contractors has been an ongoing challenge. Most dietary supplement marketers have demonstrated adequate control over their contractors,
Over the last two days, the FDA has announced the recall of two products from two different companies (here and here), each due to the presence of particulate matter in the product. One was confirmed as glass particles and the other as a copper salt (particulates seen at the twelve-month stability station).
A federal judge entered a consent decree to a 503A compounder of sterile drug products in Texas. According to the FDA News Release (here), the compounding facility received repeated warnings from the FDA over a two‑year period but continued to compound sterile ophthalmic products. “The government alleges that Guardian manufactured and distributed purportedly sterile drug products that were adulterated because the drugs were made under insanitary conditions and in violation of current good manufacturing practice requirements under the FD&C Act.
In my own humble opinion, Scott Gottlieb’s resignation will come as a blow to both the industry and the public health of our nation. Dr. Gottlieb will stay in his position for about a month. There is no speculation as to whom his replacement will be, and, while some of the news outlets cite his taxing weekly commute to Bethesda/D.C.
The FDA has revised and finalized a guidance document, originally issued in draft on March 26, 2018, entitled Evaluation of Bulk Drug Substances Nominated for Use in Compounding under Section 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (here). After the posting of the draft guidance, the FDA says that it received approximately sixty comments from stakeholders and,
Today, the FDA issued a guidance titled Quality Considerations for Continuous Manufacturing (here). Talk about a controversial proposition! The generic industry has long held that implementation of continuous manufacturing might not be appropriate for their business. Why? I am not always clear on the answer to that question, but change is always difficult,
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 we follow the ever-changing landscape of FDA regulatory science,
Ricki Chase, Director, Compliance Practice, authored an article published in Medtech Insight, “How Device Makers Can Leverage FDA Data to Uncover The Agency’s Current Thinking on Compliance”. In this article, she discusses how manufacturers can use information available online from inspectional observations, warning letters, and product recalls to ascertain FDA’s priorities with regards to compliance and enforcement actions.
