Purity Stability & Homogeneity Flashcards
What are the three phases of pharmaceutical product quality?
- 1st Phase: Quality by Appearance
- 2nd Phase: Quality by Testing
- 3rd Phase: Quality by design
Name some limitations of Conventional Product Testing
- Test only a “representative” sample
- Can only test if you know the analyte and you have a test method to do so (i.e. can only test for specific impurities)
- You can test only if test method is validated (Specific, accurate, reliable)
Main difference between 3rd phase and 2nd phase of Quality assurance?
In 3rd phase, the Quality assurance of product moved upstream (E.g. control starting materials and the processes)
Name some Disadvantages and limitations of sterility testing?
- High statistical probability of passing sterility test even when contamination level is high
- Expensive
- Requires time (2 weeks) to culture microorganisms (Bacteria/fungi)
- Sterilised product cannot be released in real time (e.g. take up storage space in warehouse as deadweight)
To overcome the limitations of sterility testing, how are sterilised products validated?
Based on Critical Process Parameters in the process of sterilisation, such as:
- Temperature
- Pressure
- Sterilisation Time/Cycle
- Bioburden of starting materials
Annex 20: Quality Risk Management (QRM) comprises of?
- Risk Identification
- Risk Analysis
- Risk Reduction
- Risk Communication
Name some soft skills required of a regulator/inspector, and why are they important
- Confidence
- Assertiveness
- Integrity and impartiality
- Perseverance (Probing Nature)
- Tact & Diplomacy
- Oral Communication & Negotiation Skills
- Report WRiting &Written Communication Skills
- Willing to travel Overseas
The 3 definitions of Quality according to the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)?
- Fit for Purpose (for any product)
- Fit for Medicinal Purpose (for a medicinal product)
- Fit for using to treat patients
What does the Quality of a Medicinal Product includes?
- Identity (of starting materials)
- Potency (of starting materials especially API)
- Purity (absence of undesirable matters)
- Pharmaceutical Quality Attributes a.k.a Critical Quality Attributes (CQA) (E.g. viscosity, sterility)
What is a contaminated medicinal product?
Product that contains Undesirable Foreign matters (aka comtaminants), which can be chemical or microbiological.
It may be present in any materials used, and can be introduced at any processes involved to make the product
State the 2 classification of contaminants, and give some examples for each
- Intrinsic contaminant (present inherently) , referred to as impurities, and are often SPECIFIC (e.g. excipients like water)
- Extrinsic contaminants: Anything else that is not intrinsic, and is NON-SPECIFIC (e.g. dust from premises, saliva of production personnel)
Why do we control impurities?
Overall therapeutic effect is also affected by toxicity of impurities present (on top of the pharmacological properties of API)
Name the 5 types of intrinsic impurities that may be present in medicinal products?
- Process-related impurities
- Drug-related impurities
- Polymorphs
- Stereo-isomers
- Impurities from Container-Closure system & labels
Name a few examples and their sources of process-related impurities in API
- Heavy metals from reactor vessels
- Un-reacted API from starting materials
- Residual Solvents
- By-products from chemical reaction
- Residual Reagents and Catalysts from reaction
What are drug-related impurities in API?
Degradation Products (after API has been formed)
Name some examples of impurities from Primary Containers
- From primary containers: e.g. polyethylene, Polyvinyl chloride
- Plasticisers, antioxidants, lubricants (E.g. plastic cap)
- Coating materials (Resinous and polymeric)