Columns | Column: Focus on Quality

Data governance requires a multi-layered approach that runs throughout a regulated organization from top to bottom.  Although data governance features in the majority of GxP data integrity guidance documents, the approach to the topic should be business-driven rather than regulatory-driven.

Raw data is a term that is often used in both good manufacturing practice (GMP) and good laboratory practice (GLP) laboratories but can create confusion and misunderstanding.  What exactly does it mean and what records are within the scope of the term?

A current hot topic in regulated GXP laboratories is data integrity. Recently, the UK regulator issued an industry guidance on this subject that requires the establishment of a data governance system, part of which is data integrity training. Easy to say, but how do you do it?

A proposed update to USP on Analytical Instrument Qualification (AIQ) has been issued for public comment. Here, we identify the changes that are proposed and their impact on the AIQ process of analytical instruments and laboratory computerized systems.

This month we discuss ISO Guide 80, "Guidance for the In-House Preparation of Quality Control Materials." This practical guide is worth reading, and its contents should be compared with your current working practices. In addition, we look at options for the preparation of working solutions from stock solutions to see the errors that could occur.

Recently, regulators in both the United States and United Kingdom issued guidance concerning laboratory data integrity that followed serious noncompliances found during inspections. Here, we explore what this guidance means for spectroscopy systems used for analysis in regulated laboratories and derive some common-sense guidance that you can follow.

A review of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) stimulus paper on the revision process to adopt quality-by-design principles for the development, validation, and operation of analytical procedures used for good manufacturing practice (GMP) analysis - and how it compares to a draft guidances by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for industry on validation of analytical and bioanalytical procedures.

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In pharmaceutical contract manufacturing, the work of analytical scientists is covered by a quality agreement, which is prepared by personnel in the quality control or quality assurance department and focuses on the laboratory analyses provided. But what exactly are quality agreements, why do we need them, who should be involved in writing them, and what should they contain? Here, we answer those questions.

A look at what the requirements are for "complete data" for laboratories working under the FDA GMP regulations. We also review the observations listed by inspectors on 483 forms from 2006 to 2012, to assess the common mistakes companies make.

Software Out of the Box?

A look at how the term commercial off-the-shelf can be abused in marketing literature.

The Write Stuff?

Guidelines for writing standard operating procedures in a laboratory and best practices for their use.

It is just over two years since USP <1058> on Analytical Instrument Qualification (AIQ) became effective. To coincide with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Meeting in New Orleans this month where a roundtable discussion on the subject will be held, here are my views.

Dear Esteemed Vendor?

How good is documentation supplied by a vendor to support the qualification of an instrument or the validation of a laboratory computerized system?

Getting the best business value from a spectrometer requires knowledge of the instrument and its operating abilities, any attachments, the sample including sampling procedure and presentation, and the software. All of these elements must be pulled together by a skilled and knowledgeable spectroscopist. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in many organizations.