Archives 2021

BACK TO THE PRESENT: EPiC Auditors First Virtual GMP Symposium

pharma compliance conference

We at EPiC Auditors Ltd will be running our very first virtual GMP pharma compliance conference on Tuesday 1st February 2022. The theme is Back to the Present; an opportunity to see what you’ve missed during the pandemic and what’s on the horizon.

This virtual GMP symposium will be a full day delivered remotely comprising a variety of ex MHRA Inspector speakers with an invited guest MHRA GMDP Inspectorate speaker. Altogether it will be a thought-provoking and informative day, with a few laughs along the way.

The EPiC GMP pharma compliance conference is ideal for pharmaceutical industry professionals in quality control, quality assurance, supply chain and production management, as well as Qualified Persons, regulatory and compliance specialists involved in the manufacturing of medicines.

The day will provide you with the latest information and guidance on changing legislation and give you insight into what you might have missed since the start of the pandemic. Through presentations on current deficiency trends and an IAG case study, you will learn how to maintain a compliant PQS and better manage remote inspections.

Richard Andrews, Managing Director and Senior Consultant for EPiC says, “We are really excited to be delivering this symposium and to be sharing the collective knowledge of the ex-MHRA Inspectors working for EPiC Auditors. The regulations, guidance and expectations are continually evolving and companies need to ensure they stay up to date to remain compliant.”

Tickets cost £250.00 and include Multi-attendee discounts – book one place at the full price and book up to three further places at the same time at a 50% discount.

This event is brought to you in collaboration with SeerPharma UK

To buy tickets follow the link below.

ARE YOU HEADING FOR IAG?

Trust us: IAG is not an acronym that you want to be too familiar with. It stands for Inspection Action Group, the multidisciplinary team at the MHRA that determines whether your organisation maintains or loses its manufacturing or wholesale dealers licence.

It may be surprising to some of you that after 50 years plus of pharmaceutical legislation and GMP/GDP regulations that 3-4 companies a month still find themselves being referred to IAG with the potential of having their licences suspended or coming under strict and costly surveillance by the MHRA Compliance Management Team.

However, this is not so surprising to us in the EPIC Auditors team. Most of us are ex MHRA Inspectors, and we know only too well that any change in the Senior Management of a company can have a significant effect on the quality mindset and compliance level of a site.

Hopefully it will be for the better but sadly all too often it is for the worse. Most of the companies that we work with require our help because the quality focus at senior level is inadequate. It is still rare to see a Quality Director on the Board of Directors and this role should be seen as important as that of the Finance Director and Operations Director. If all Senior Management Teams had the Quality training and Quality understanding required to run the business in a cost effective and compliant manner, then we might see a reduction in Inspection Action Group cases at MHRA.

It is our opinion that anyone appointed to a Senior Management Team role should undergo mandatory training in Quality Management and ICH Q 10 principles.  Those companies that we have provided this training for will hopefully endorse our thinking. It is a requirement of GMP that all employees have training in Quality Management and this includes the Senior Management Team. Failures to implement an appropriate Pharmaceutical Quality System and to conduct suitable and effective quality management reviews with the involvement of senior management, feature in the top 10 deficiencies raised by MHRA year on year. Ensuring the Senior Management Team are aware of and are trained in their quality role and responsibilities, should lead to fewer companies facing the threat of IAG.

iag

DOES YOUR CLEANROOM MEET THE NEW STANDARD?

February 2021 is the date by when the 34 CEN nations (primarily Europe and Turkey) have to implement EN 17141:2020 as a national standard. This new Cleanroom standard and associated controlled environments – Biocontamination control standard, sets expectations for risk assessment, viable contamination control, viable monitoring methodology and monitoring frequency.

The new cleanroom standard applies to pharmaceutical, medical device, hospital/healthcare and food cleanrooms. EN 17141:2020 covering microbiological contamination sits nicely alongside the ISO 14644 series that relates to cleanroom non-viable contamination monitoring and classification.

What is a cleanroom?

A cleanroom is a controlled environment where pollutants like dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapours are kept at specific levels to minimize contamination. These environments are used in industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical device and life sciences where small particles can adversely affect manufacturing processes.

In a cleanroom, the concentration of airborne particles is controlled to specified limits. To achieve this, the air in a cleanroom is repeatedly filtered through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) or Ultra Low Particulate Air (ULPA) filters to remove internally generated contaminants.

Cleanrooms are classified based on the cleanliness level of the air inside them. This classification is determined by the number and size of particles permitted per volume of air. For example, no more than 100 particles (0.5 microns or larger) per cubic foot of air.

Associated controlled environments are areas adjacent to or within the cleanroom that also have controlled levels of contamination. These areas may include gowning rooms, pass-throughs, and material airlocks. They play a crucial role in preventing the ingress of contamination into the cleanroom.

The new Biocontamination control standard sets expectations for risk assessment, viable contamination control, viable monitoring methodology and monitoring frequency in these controlled environments. It aims to ensure that cleanrooms and their associated controlled environments maintain the necessary cleanliness levels to prevent product contamination, thereby ensuring quality and safety.

cleanroom