GxP Lifeline

 

  • Device Makers Urged to Ramp Up Their Security Efforts

    30 June, 2015 Lisa Weeks, Marketing Communications Specialist, MasterControl

    The Anthem data breach should be a wake-up call to the health care industry, according to security experts. On February 5, 2015, hackers stole the social security numbers and personal information of 80 million Anthem members and employees, leaving them vulnerable to identity theft and blackmail.1 While the insurer may be one of the biggest health care companies to suffer a breach, it certainly isn't the first.

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  • 4 Reasons Why Document Review is Crucial to Compliance

    25 June, 2015 Cindy Fazzi Editor, MasterControl Insider

    When was the last time you reviewed your quality documents? If you don’t review them, how do you know if you need to update and revise them? These are the questions that Marty Jackson1, a MasterControl professional services consultant, asks new clients who are switching from a paper-based document management process to an automated system. In most cases, they are stumped.

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  • Study: Doctors are Ready to Embrace mHealth Tools

    23 June, 2015 Lisa Weeks, Marketing Communications Specialist, MasterControl

    Mobile health, or mHealth, has gained significant momentum over the past couple of years, and it will continue to influence product development in 2015. Millennials raised on technology are providing device makers with the unprecedented opportunity to sell directly to consumers in the form of wearable devices and mobile health applications that allow patients and physicians to interact clinically from different locations. The popularity of mHealth tools has been fueled by the growth of the smartphone industry.

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  • How 3-D Printing is Revolutionizing Medical Devices

    18 June, 2015 Lisa Weeks, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    Imagine a time when a clinician can modify and manufacture an implant sized for a particular patient on-demand in a health care facility—or print a human organ as easily as a paper document. As futuristic as it sounds, that time is not far off, according to scientists who continue to find new and truly mind-blowing ways to apply three-dimensional (3-D) printing techniques to the medical field.

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  • FDA Regulation of HCT/Ps – Impact of New Guidances on Manufacturers and Users

    11 June, 2015 Stacie L. Ropka and Chad A. Landmon Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP

    What does the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consider to be “minimal manipulation” and how are human cells, tissues and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) made from adipose tissue regulated by FDA? These questions were addressed in two draft guidances issued by FDA in late December of 2014. The first, Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products (HCT/Ps) from Adipose Tissue: Regulatory Considerations (1), focuses on how adipose tissue is defined and thus how adipose-based HCT/Ps are regulated by FDA. The second, Minimal Manipulation of Human Cells, Tissues and Tissue-Based Products (2), focuses on the types of cell and tissue processing that would be considered more than minimal manipulation, resulting in the regulation of the cell or tissue-based product as a drug, biologic or medical device. Although they are not yet final, these guidances shed light on FDA’s current thinking and may signal that FDA will make it more difficult for products to be regulated solely under Section 361. Not only will such a position by FDA impact development of new HCT/Ps, but it could threaten the regulation status of currently marketed HCT/Ps.

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  • Tales from the Front

    9 June, 2015 Morris Sherwood Director, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance Isolite Systems

    So far in my 26 years of working in medical devices I have had many an adventure when it comes to FDA and Notified Body Inspections. I love inspections. I know it sounds crazy but there is this Zen place you get to during an inspection. You must practice patience. You must not think you know exactly what your inspector is thinking. At the same time, it is this amazing game of psychological chess whereby you watch your opponent’s moves and think five moves ahead, only to have your strategy thrown out the window when the inspection zigs rather than zags.

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  • EU vs US: What are the New Track and Trace Requirements?

    4 June, 2015 Wolfgang Schmitt, Director Operations, CONCEPT HEIDELBERG GmbH

    In 2011, the European Commission published Directive 2011/62/EC, the so-called Falsified Medicines Directive (or FMD).One goal was the fight against counterfeit medicines through serialization and verification. In 2014 the technical characteristics of these key ideas were defined, the unique identifier (UI), delivering the possibility of verification of the authenticity of single folding boxes. The unique identifier contains information on the:

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  • Don’t Call Me Jim Cramer but Here are My Top 5 Pharma Trends

    3 June, 2015 Lane Hirning, Product Management Director, MasterControl Inc.

    Judging by a recent report forecasting future growth, the pharmaceutical industry is thriving despite the recent economic downturn. A market research firm is estimating a 30 percent increase in global medicine spending by 2018, which is great news for the industry (1). The same report cited the anticipated launch of 200 new revenue-boosting drugs within the next five years.

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  • CAPA and Root Cause Analysis for the Food Industry

    2 June, 2015 Dr. Bob Strong, SAI Global Assurance Services

    A thorough and effective CAPA can provide many benefits such as providing long-term solutions, preventing recurrences, fostering continuous improvement, improving customer satisfaction, improving profitability, and having the ability to influence FDA and FSMA inspections.

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  • Change in Pharmaceutical Manufacture

    28 May, 2015 Peter Murray, Consultant

    Within the pharmaceutical industry, the concepts of validation, change, change control, deviation and out of specification (OOS) are often treated as distinct activities which operate with a significant degree of independence.

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  • Biotechnology Article

    28 May, 2015 MasterControl

    The MasterControl quality management system is a flexible system since it can be constructed from a variety of individual quality control/quality assurance solutions.

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  • 5 Tips for Winning Executive Buy-In for a New QMS

    26 May, 2015 Matthew M. Lowe, Executive Vice President, MasterControl Inc.

    If you’re facing executive or organizational resistance to your plan to automate your quality system, you’re not alone. There are many quality and IT professionals who are in the same boat. They have the toughest time convincing senior management not just about the merits of an electronic quality management system (EQMS) but about the real value of quality.

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  • How to Tip Off a GCP Auditor in 25 Words or Less

    21 May, 2015 Laurie Meehan, Social Media Manager, Polaris Compliance Consultants

    When our GCP auditors conduct training and deliver guest lectures, they frequently hear those questions from class attendees. Sometimes the tip-off is something very subtle that requires the keen eye of an experienced auditor to notice. And other times, not so much.

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  • Cosmeceuticals: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

    19 May, 2015 MasterControl

    Since retiring from FDA, I have assisted numerous businesses in developing labels for “Cosmeceuticals.” I have also presented a number of training programs on the manufacturing and marketing of such products. When I was asked to write something using this specific title, I thought I would be able to quickly put an article together. At first, I had a difficult time putting pen to paper because I couldn’t think of anything “ugly” about cosmeceuticals as I define them. To get started I searched the Internet to see what others were saying about these products.

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  • The Bright Future of Quality and Compliance

    14 May, 2015 Craig Gygi, Executive Vice President, Operations, MasterControl Inc.

    Quality and compliance stand at a crossroads. It’s the same crossroads that many other professional fields have navigated. Remember when computers entered the mainstream of business?

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  • A Road Map for Addressing Quality and Manufacturing Challenges in Life Sciences

    12 May, 2015 ames Jardine, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    Increasingly strict regulatory measures are drawing attention to the inadequacy of the systems and processes life sciences companies use to manage quality and production. A new eBook from LNS Research entitled A Road Map for Addressing Quality and Manufacturing Challenges in Life Sciences outlines some of the major challenges faced by life sciences companies and shows how prominent organizations are successfully handling those difficulties.

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  • A Business Case for Engendering Trust in Your Company

    7 May, 2015 Kevin Ash, Senior VP of Services, MasterControl

    Once the standard is published, companies will have a three-year transition period within which to comply. Managers and other professionals involved in implementing, maintaining and auditing quality management systems are encouraged to be proactive and think about what they can begin doing now to achieve compliance with the revised standard.

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  • The ISO 9001: 2015 Change Train is Gathering Steam

    6 May, 2015 Robyn Barnes, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    ISO change is coming your way in the form of an ISO 9001 update.  This is a major revision to the standard and pharma companies need to prepare to jump on this train. 

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  • Creating a High Performance and Low Risk Work Culture

    5 May, 2015 David Patrishkoff, President, E3- Extreme Enterprise Efficiency

    Most of us have heard the phrase: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." It could also be restated as "Your actions speak louder than your words." This means that management can dream up any strategy they want to but their behaviors and actions are what creates the culture of an organization, not their strategy. Culture drives the efficiency of an organization's processes. The culture drives the success or failure of an organization. The culture is the product of leadership decisions or the lack

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  • Top 5 Medical Device Trends That Will Dominate 2015

    29 April, 2015 Lisa Weeks, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    More connected and consumer-driven than ever before, the medical device industry is in the middle of a truly transformative year. Three-dimensional printing, mobile health apps, and other disruptive technologies are changing the way providers deliver care and prompting regulators to re-examine their roles. Consumers are demanding more transparency and convenience but are also concerned about the security of their medical information. Investors and stakeholders are paying closer attention to reim

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