GxP Lifeline

 

  • Canada’s Evolving Regulatory Landscape

    26 September, 2017 Raleigh Malik, PhD, Sr. Scientist, DIA

    Canada’s sesquicentennial marks a period of advancement and newfound transparency, where the past has set the stage for innovators to generate novel, yet safe and effective, health care products for Canadians. From the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921 to the development of the first HIV preventative vaccine in 2013 (which is currently undergoing Phase II trials), Canada has a rich history of drug innovation. However, with health care product innovation comes government oversight and regulations required to ensure safe and effective treatments for the public.

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  • Coping with Scoping a CSV/Part 11 Audit

    21 September, 2017 by Laurie Meehan, Social Media Manager, Polaris Compliance Consultants

    You use computers on a daily basis, and you may even use the system that needs to be audited. But you don’t spend your day thinking about where all the system components are located, how services and software are combined, and what Part 11 requirements apply.

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  • Supply Chain Risk Management: An Ever-Changing Mosaic

    19 September, 2017 Geary W. Sikich, Principal, Logical Management Systems Corp.

    We have recognized the need to better manage supply chain risks for the nearly two decades now. Yet, we still seem to be deluded into thinking that the modern supply chain is resilient to the point of invulnerability.

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  • Understanding the Use of “Where Appropriate/As Appropriate” Within the ISO 13485:2016 Standard

    12 September, 2017 by Christine Park, Consultant, Christine Park & Associates

    Historically, the term “where appropriate” and/or “as appropriate” have been implied within the ISO 13485 standards as well as the FDA 21 CFR 820 Quality System Regulations. The FDA has always explained that “as appropriate” means it is appropriate unless you can justify why it isn’t appropriate.

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  • Rise of Digital Health Prompts FDA to Re-examine How It Regulates SAMD

    7 September, 2017 Jeffrey K. Shapiro, Director, Hyman, Phelps, McNamara, P.C.

    When you think about it, FDA's general regulatory paradigm for regulating medical devices has enjoyed a tremendous run. The overarching statutory and regulatory foundation was started in 1976 and largely in place in its current form by 1997. (Think 510(k)/MDR/Part 806 and QSR procedures for the postmarket phase.)

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  • Medical Device Firms: 3 Tips for Jumping Over the Dossier-Management Hurdle

    14 September, 2017 by Cindy Fazzi, Staff Writer, MasterControl

    For medical device companies, the ultimate goal is to commercialize their products, usually in more than one market. The road to a successful product launch in multiple markets is full of obstacles and one of the biggest hurdles is dossier management.

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  • Writing and Maintaining SOPs: Drudgery or Delight?

    18 April, 2017 Katy McMullin, Senior Professional Services Consultant at MasterControl

    "SOPs! We don't need no stinking SOPs!"

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  • The Use of "Poka Yoke" with Medical Device Design and Manufacturing

    17 May, 2011 by Jim Shore, Product and Process Improvement Leader, Dynisco

    The Poka Yoke method is something that improves your daily life; why not use it to make your product better, as well? The best solutions are simple, quick to implement and 100 times more effective than a 100-percent final inspection.

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  • Retraining Employees: When Once is Not Enough

    1 January, 2008 by Lynn A Emmert, M.Ed., MT(ASCP)SI

    Most supervisors would agree that their staff wants to do a good job and that their employees do their best to meet the demands of the highly regulated blood bank industry. But occasionally management has to deal with employee performance that falls short of expectations.

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  • The EMA 2012 Guidance for Process Validation

    19 February, 2013 Peter H. Calcott, Ph.D., President, Calcott Consulting LLC

    In February 2012, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) issued the latest version of the new EU Guidance for Process Validation (PV). At the end of October, the opportunity for consultation (comments period) closed, marking the time when the various committees review the comments for inclusion or modification of the document. Sometime in 2013, the formalized document will be issued for use. However, generally, what is presented at this stage is often close to the final versio

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  • Disaster Recovery and Validation

    12 June, 2013 Louis Rutledge, Manager of Services Development / Validation ServicesMasterControl Inc.

    Disaster! Today’s business world shudders at the word. With the current random occurrences of hurricanes, super storms, earthquakes, blizzards, fires, flooding and sustained power outages, it is a wonder how companies can recover to survive all of the natural or modern threats to their daily business operations and collection of business data. Today’s business world is dependent on the data created and stored for many aspects of daily operations: financial data; product specifications; designs;

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  • Can You Use Automated Testing Tools as an FDA-Regulated Company?

    30 October, 2012 Janis Olson, Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Services, EduQuest, Inc.

    Can you use automated testing tools as an FDA-regulated company?

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  • Implementing a New System: Why Training Reinforcement is Critical

    17 July, 2012 Cindy Fazzi, Marketing Communications Specialist, MasterControl, Inc.

    It all sounds familiar: You attend a training course that you are excited about. You spend two or more days soaking up new information. You take notes diligently. Before you know it, the training is over. You go back to the office. And after a while, it happens: The new knowledge fades.

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  • 100% Training Complete ≠ 100% Effectively Trained

    31 January, 2013 Vivian Bringslimark, President HPIS Consulting, Inc.

    "Can you run me a training report? I need to know where we stand with our training effectiveness program!" For a training manager, this is a double-edged sword. While it is very encouraging that upper management is taking an interest in the training program, focusing merely on the percentage of completion does not measure training effectiveness.

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  • Supplier Quality Agreements: Benefits to You and Your Supplier

    10 May, 2012 Betty Lane, Founder and President, Be Quality Associates, LLC

    Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of his/her employer, GxP Lifeline, its editor or MasterControl, Inc."

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  • Single Sourcing of Critical Components: Strategies for Optimization

    28 November, 2012 Peter Knauer, Partner Consultant, MasterControl Quality and Compliance Advisory Services

    The increase in virtual or under-resourced biomedical companies has resulted in a dramatic shift in outsourcing components and supplies. Larger companies are also joining this outsourcing trend. Even more profound is the increasing reliance on single-sourced suppliers, particularly for critical components. While this can be an effective way to reduce the cost of goods and improve efficiencies, there are some significant risks associated with this practice. This article examines these risks and a

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  • New Draft Guidance on Quality Agreements: No Passing the Buck on CGMPs

    10 August, 2013 Cathy L. Burgess, Donald E. Segal and Guillermo Cuevas,Alston & Bird LLP

    Last month, FDA released a draft guidance document entitled “Contract Manufacturing Arrangements for Drugs: Quality Agreements.” The guidance addresses relationships between the entities that introduce a drug into interstate commerce (the “Owner”) and third parties that perform some or all of the manufacturing operations for the product (the “Contracted Facilities”). The guidance describes how Owners and Contracted Facilities can use Quality Agreements to define responsibilities associated with

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  • Managing Your Medical Device Suppliers

    12 June, 2013 Michelle Bonn, President, Expedient Trade LLC

    Since the medical device and drug industries have transitioned into global market players, the concept of “virtual manufacturing” has grown in popularity and necessity. What exactly is a virtual manufacturer? In the eyes of the FDA, virtual manufacturing applies to any medical device or drug company that outsources any of its manufacturing functions.  This includes, design, packaging, sterilization & regulatory functions.

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  • How to Build a Strong Supply Chain Team

    30 October, 2012 Cindy Fazzi, Marketing Communications Specialist, MasterControl, Inc.

    In today's fiercely competitive global market, finding good suppliers that help create efficiencies, reduce cost, and support compliance efforts is critical to the success of manufacturers in regulated environments. Let's say you have found excellent suppliers, the question is: How do you maintain control over your suppliers and also keep good relations with them?

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  • Ways to Ensure Supplier Compliance

    15 May, 2013 Cindy Fazzi, Marketing Communications Specialist, MasterControl Inc.

    Your suppliers are critical to your success. They can increase your company's efficiency-in terms of time, cost, and quality. But in some cases, suppliers can put their clients in hot water; this is especially true if those clients are regulated companies.

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