GxP Lifeline

 

  • 5 Practices for Managing Change When ISO 9001: 2015 Arrives

    14 April, 2015 Terrance Holbrook, Senior Product Manager, MasterControl

    Quality management system (QMS) standard ISO 9001:2008 is about to undergo some significant changes soon, with the new ISO 9001:2015 due to be published later this year. As a result of proposed fundamental changes to the structure and contents of the standard, this revision will be important to organizations with, or seeking, ISO 9001 certification and those implementing ISO 9001 systems.

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  • Regulatory Tools Go UFO: Useful, Free & Online

    7 April, 2015 Laurie Meehan, Social Media Manager, Polaris Compliance Consultants, Inc.

    Despite your best efforts, if you’re active in social media, you’ve been drawn into pointless conversations.  Indeed, that’s why many people stay away.  But if you can tolerate a little noise, I’ve found that the fruitful far outweighs the fruitless.  Case in point:

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  • Regulatory Affairs & Regulatory Operations: The Air Traffic Control Tower of Life Sciences

    2 April, 2015 Patricia Santos-Serrao,MasterControl's Market Segment Manager, Global Pharmaceutical, Blood & Biologics

    When describing the role of Regulatory Operations I have found that one of the best analogies of their role and responsibilities is to be the “air traffic control tower for interactions between a life sciences organization and a regulatory authority.” By no means is that their only role but it is an essential role that involves constant communication with various parties both internally as well as externally. Regulatory Operations personnel coordinate resources and documentation essential for filing of global applications such as INDs, NDAs, BLAs and MAAs for pharma/biotech organizations and of 510k and PMAs for medical device organizations.

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  • Why Do You Do What You Do?

    31 March, 2015 Jon Beckstrand CEO, MasterControl Inc.

    Have you ever asked yourself why you do what you do? When you find yourself buried in quality procedures and SOPs, or embroiled in a heated meeting over incomplete CAPA tasks, do you ever question the meaning of your work?

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  • 3 Keys to Driving Collaborative Growth in Life Sciences

    26 March, 2015 James Jardine, MasterControl

    A recent study by LNS Research shows that life sciences companies are facing an unprecedented demand for better and safer products. Results from LNS Research’s surveys of industry executives indicate the pressures life science organizations are facing and the new technologies and processes they are employing to meet rising needs.

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  • Closed-Loop Quality Management: Connecting the Value Chain

    24 March, 2015 James Jardine, Marketing Communication, MasterControl

    An increasing number of leading organizations are learning that quality management must extend far beyond the manufacturing environment, according to a recent eBook co-sponsored by LNS Research and MasterControl. The research collected in the eBook indicates that market leaders are beginning to implement a closed-loop approach to quality that bi-directionally unites people, processes, and data across the value chain. This approach connects quality from design and procurement stages all the way through manufacturing and service. Other findings in the book show that Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) is vital to the establishment of an effective closed-loop system that can help a manufacturer better control costs, compliance, and risk.

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  • Did the Titanic Follow ISO 31000 Risk Management Guidelines?

    19 March, 2015 David Patrishkoff, President, E3

    ISO 31000 (Risk Management) and its supporting publications encompass an impressive and useful "to-do" list of risk management guidelines to create and protect the value of an organization. However, if an organization selectively pursues some of the ISO guidelines and ignore others, highly undesirable events and tragedies can occur.  This is what happened with the Titanic.

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  • Infographic: How Evolved Is Your Quality Management System?

    17 March, 2015 Lisa Weeks, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    Quality management systems (QMSs) have steadily evolved over time. The sophisticated systems of today are a far cry from the primitive paper-based systems of the past. They're faster, leaner, greener and just plain better. How did we get to where we are today? And is your company at the top or bottom of the QMS evolutionary chain? View the infographic, or keep reading to learn more about the evolution of the enterprise QMS.

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  • The Journey to Supply Chain Excellence

    12 March, 2015 Ed Rausch, VP of Global Marketing, Elemica

    Some goals haven’t changed. Businesses in 2015 still have the common pursuit of growing revenues, profits, and market space, and leading companies are relying on building collaborative relationships in their extended supply chains to meet these goals in a responsible and sustainable way. Building powerful and more intimate relationships, extending across a critical mass of trading partners, leads to continuous improvements in company performance, agility, and differentiation.

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  • Data Integrity Starts With User Access

    10 March, 2015 Jamie Colgin, Colgin Consulting

    In my next few blog posts, we'll be covering user access and how it can impact data integrity. For starters, let's explore the Principle of Least Privilege. What is it?  What happens when it's violated? Finally we'll map out five actions you can take to protect your company.

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  • 3 Levels of SQF Certification

    5 March, 2015 Sam Lewis Associate Editor, Food Online

    SQF Certification is an assurance, assessment, and audit program that can increase your company’s marketability, domestically and globally.

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  • FDA Launches Drug Shortages Mobile App

    4 March, 2015 Christopher Kelly, FDA CDER Trade Press

    Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched the agency’s first mobile application (app) specifically designed to speed public access to valuable information about drug shortages.

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  • After Five Years, Compliance-First Approach is Still Obstacle to Improving Product Quality

    3 March, 2015 Dan Matlis, Founder and President, Axendia

    Five years ago we looked at the road blocks to improving product quality.  In the intervening years there has been little change by most Med-Tech Companies.  The matter of Product Quality vs. Compliance recently has been given a push toward the Quality side by efforts made by the FDA.  The four-part whitepaper reveals how aligning process improvement initiatives with technology platforms and an integrated approached to product quality can help Med-Tech organizations improve produc

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  • Four Reasons to Automate SOP Management in FDA and ISO Environments

    26 February, 2015 David R. Butcher, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    To maximize efficiency and safety, successful companies across all industries employ effective standard operating procedures (SOPs). For companies doing business in regulatory environments, effective SOP management is imperative. An electronic SOP management system can dramatically improve SOP management in at least four key areas.

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  • 7 Document Management Blunders that Jeopardize Compliance

    25 February, 2015 James Jardine, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    Achieving regulatory compliance without any document management slipups is like walking through a dog park without getting your shoes messy. It seems nearly impossible to find a safe route to your compliance destination and there are countless potential mistakes you can make at any step along the way. Since the path to compliance is narrow and treacherous, here are seven examples of common document management mistakes that can jeopardize your compliance and a few ideas on handling these types of problems.

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  • FDA Issues New Draft Documents Related to Compounding of Human Drugs

    23 February, 2015 MasterControl

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued five draft documents related to drug compounding and repackaging that will help entities comply with important public health provisions. The draft documents are applicable to pharmacies, federal facilities, outsourcing facilities and physicians.

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  • 6 Ways to Ensure Your QMS Meets FDA and ISO Compliance

    19 February, 2015 David R. Butcher, Marketing Communications, MasterControl

    An optimal quality management system (QMS) is the foundation for long-term regulatory compliance, especially for organizations working within strict U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) environments. Those lacking a solid quality infrastructure are simply not equipped to face the challenges of the regulatory environment and meet the demands of a competitive market.

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  • Draft Guidance on Good Manufacturing Practices for Combination Products – FDA Delivers on Promises

    18 February, 2015 Suzanne M. O'Shea, Counsel, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP

    Two years ago, in January 2013, FDA published the final regulations on Good Manufacturing Practices for Combination Products.[1] These regulations are built on the concept that the constituent parts of a combination product retain their regulatory identity as a drug, device, or biological product, even after they are physically, chemically, or otherwise combined into a single-entity combination product (i.e., prefilled injector or drug eluting stent) or co-packaged together.[2] Therefore, all the good manufacturing requirements associated with each constituent part must be complied with in the manufacture of single-entity and co-packaged combination products.

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  • The Perks of Pursuing a Career in Quality Management

    17 February, 2015 Greg Peckford, Founder, Quality Career Advancement

    It is a bit of a mystery to me that more is not made of the personal career advantages and knowledge gained from performing procedural assessments, audits and other quality management related functions. For me personally, this type of activity has been one of the key factors in my career progression and advancement.

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  • Success By the Numbers (or Why Being Science-y is a Good Thing)

    12 February, 2015 Craig Gygi, Executive Vice President, Operations MasterControl

    How do you know if you know? In other words, how do you know when you have sufficient knowledge to reliably manage or improve a process? This last question reveals the foundation of all quality, regulatory, and compliance work.

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