Pharma Discovery to Distribution

The EPiC team were pleased to be able to attend the UK’s Making Pharmaceuticals Conference 2024 in Coventry from 23rd to 24th April 2024.

The two-day conference covered topics spanning the entire product lifecycle, from discovery to distribution, and it was a fantastic opportunity to explain and promote our services to the conference attendees as well as meet with many of our current and past clients

“Keep Calm and Be Prepared” – Inspection Readiness Top Tips

Article By Michelle Yeomans, Operations Manager for EPiC Auditors

Judging by the number of enquiries we are receiving to provide ex MHRA Inspectors to assist with inspection readiness preparations or remediation activities; it certainly looks like the number of regulatory inspections and supplier due diligence audits are returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Inspections are an opportunity to demonstrate compliance, so when you receive notification of a regulatory inspection (or external audit), keep calm, and use our top tips to help be prepared:

1. Inspection Scope  – Make sure that the purpose and scope of the inspection are clearly understood to help identify the relevant people, products, premises, systems, processes, and procedures that are likely to be involved so that these can all be factored into an inspection readiness plan. As part of the plan, consider the need for inspection awareness training for staff likely to be directly involved, especially if they have not previously experienced a regulatory inspection. Do not forget to check any contractual agreements, as contract acceptors may be required to notify the contract giver of any regulatory inspections.  

2. Compliance Status – Leverage output from the pharmaceutical quality system by referring to performance and trend data from self-inspections, deviations and CAPA, risk assessments, management review, etc. to understand how the quality system and operational processes are performing. This will either give you assurance that you are inspection ready or help identify specific compliance concerns or weakness to enable you to focus on implementing mitigating actions.  

3. Front and Back Room Organisation – Based on the scope and purpose of the inspection, identify and assign appropriate numbers of personnel (including deputies) to act as hosts, tour guides, scribes, runners, back-room staff handling document requests, and subject matter expects (SMEs). Provide some basic inspection preparation awareness training to give an overview of the inspection process and ensure everyone involved has a clearly defined role and purpose. 

4. Turning Negatives into Positives – In completing your inspection readiness plan you may have identified potential deficiencies or there may be questions you would not want an inspector to ask. Encourage the SME’s who know the areas of weakness to practice explaining in a clear and succinct way what the issues are and what is being done to improve the situation. Being able to clearly explain the issues, mitigating actions and CAPA already in place can help to reassure the inspector that a situation is under control and may avoid or reduce the severity of a deficiency.    

5. First Impressions Count – Get the inspection off to a positive start by anticipating likely questions and areas of interest and have documentation and premises ready for inspection.  Prepare a brief presentation covering site activities and confirm any significant changes since the previous inspection (if it is not the first inspection). Check that previous inspection actions have been closed and have evidence of closure to hand. Identify and walk the physical inspection routes and tidy the areas focusing on housekeeping and first impressions. Plan to walk the expected route each day to check on housekeeping, as new deliveries may have arrived, new production batches set up, new teams on shift, etc.   

By following these tips, you can prepare for an inspection by using practice runs and role-play scenarios to practice hosting, tracking, and responding to questions (including the difficult ones!) and help build confidence in being able to demonstrate compliance. 

Get in touch if you want to know more about our mock inspections or bespoke inspection readiness training.  

Telephone: +44 (0)1244 980544 or email us at enquiries@epic-auditors.com

 You may also like to read our Case Study 1: Inspection Readiness: https://epic-auditors.com/case-study-inspection-readiness/

The Autumn Compliance Seminar had been given ‘In Principle’ CPD Certification

EPiC Auditors have received notification from the CPD Certification Service that the further learning value and structure of our Autumn Compliance Seminar on 10^th November 2022 conforms to CPD guidelines and we have been given ‘in principle’ certification for our forthcoming event.

Continuing professional development (CPD) is an important part of any business. It’s the intentional process of learning and improving your skills in order to keep up with changing technology, meet new industry standards, and prepare for future job roles or promotions.

CPD requirements are present in most professions and is particularly important in the pharmaceutical industry. Most companies and organisations now prioritise CPD because they ensure a constantly developing workforce. Depending on what kind of work you do and where your career is going, continuing professional development can range from participating in online course every few months or attending an industry conference every year.

It can be difficult to commit time to CPD and attend conferences when you are already busy with other tasks at work, so EPiC Auditors will bring a high quality, informative and thought provoking  seminar to you on Thursday 10^th November.

Our full day virtual conference will be delivered live, remotely online between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm (GMT) with interactive sessions and an opportunity to ask our expert panel those burning compliance questions!

We had some fantastic feedback from the attendees of our GMP Symposium 2022 in February 2022:

“Excellent symposium. Exceptionally knowledgeable presenters allowing an insight into the perspective of regulatory inspectors, this is invaluable information for those of us in industry. The platform was very impressive, and is easily the best example of an virtual meeting solution for large events I have encountered. Good breadth of topics covered across the day also, making it an excellent investment of time.”

“Really enjoyed today, very informative and the schedule was well put together covering lots of key points.”

“Well worth attending – a very valuable day”

“Excellent symposium! Expertly planned and delivered, I was not bored at all for the whole day”

“Really informative symposium with interesting contents and knowledgeable speakers. Highly satisfying.”

An application has been made to accredit the event and award CPD points. Certificates will be sent to the email address you have registered with approximately 2-3 weeks after the event.

If you haven’t already booked tickets for our Autumn event, head along to our registration and bookings page here to find out more: https://epic-auditors.com/epic-auditors-autumn-compliance-seminar/

“you say tomato, I say tomahto” ????

Regardless of what we are calling our Autumn Compliance Seminar/ Symposium!

This online conference will be a full day event delivered remotely, packed with a programme of informative sessions and presentations brought to you by current & ex MHRA Inspectors, providing pharmaceutical compliance advice across a wide range of hot topics guaranteed to get you thinking and an opportunity to start a discussion and ask your own burning questions! ????????????

Unlike other conventions, our seminar on Thursday 10^th November will not be a lecture but a thought provoking and informative colloquium with a few laughs along the way!

There’s only 2 weeks to go – don’t suffer FoMo, be sure not to miss out!

Get your tickets here;

In collaboration with SeerPharma UK

You may also be interested in the SeerPharma UK GDP Symposium taking place on Tuesday 8^th November 2022: Register and Pay Online Here

EPiC Auditors Autumn Compliance Seminar: Thursday 10th November 2022

Here’s what our speakers have to say about the pharma compliance event;

 “How to achieve Regulatory compliance for small, new and innovative companies can seem an impossible task. How to maintain pharma compliance for well established global companies can be equally challenging. We hope this seminar provides some useful advice and solutions for all pharmaceutical companies, whatever stage of maturity they are at. We look forward to delivering our second online conference and sharing our thoughts gained from our previous MHRA experiences, as well as from our recent projects within EPIC.”

Liz Allanson, EPiC Auditors Director and Senior Consultant

The transitional measures in place to support implementation of the Clinical Trials Regulation which replaces the Clinical Trials Directive are rather complex, and it can be confusing for clinical trial teams to know which sets of documents and requirements should be referred to depending on the location and legislation under which the clinical trial is conducted. This presents risks to compliance and a need for Sponsors to ensure that they have adaptable systems to cope with the flexibility of risk proportionate approaches proposed by MHRA, without overlooking trial specific or regulatory requirements for EU trials. At our Autumn Pharma Compliance Seminar, myself and Louise Mawer (ex MHRA Senior GCP Inspector) will be providing practical advice and real-world examples for Sponsors and clinical trials teams on key aspects of managing clinical trial activities during the legislative transitional phase.We will also be reflecting on the challenges for clinical trial supply chains following the UK’s exit from the EU, to help those involved in clinical trial supply understand the GMP expectations for IMPs, non-IMPs and QP certification requirements. The transitional implementation phase of the Clinical Trials Regulations has presented additional challenges at the IMP/GCP interface, and we hope our session will raise awareness of the different terminology and expectations to help maintain compliance with the changing requirements.

Michelle Yeomans, EPiC Auditors Operations Manager  

To find out more about the seminar and to book your tickets click on the link below: