Mar 29, 2023

13 Mistakes done by firm in Water System which should not be done to avoid getting Warning Letter-Part 2

Read the non-compliances by the firms & ensure these should not be repeated on your site.....

We had discussed about 10 mistakes one should avoid in Water System to avoid getting Warning Letters. This is part 2 with other 13 mistakes to be avoided:

MARCS-CMS 642374 — FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Following non-compliances found which caused warning letter;

1.The firm failed to adequately validate the manufacturing process and water system used in the manufacture of the hand sanitizer and antibacterial hand soap drug products.

2.The batch records included unvalidated in-process adjustments, such as adding (b)(4) as-needed if the density of the antibacterial hand soap was low.

3.The firm did not demonstrate that the manufacturing processes were controlled to consistently yield a drug product of uniform character and quality.

4. The firm has not validated the water system, does not maintain procedures, and did not provide specifications upon request by investigators.

5.The firm lacks an ongoing program for monitoring process control to ensure stable manufacturing operations and consistent drug quality.

Authority requested firm to provide the following;

  • A detailed summary of your validation program for ensuring a state of control throughout the product lifecycle, along with associated procedures. Describe your program for process performance qualification, and ongoing monitoring of both intra-batch and inter-batch variation to ensure a continuing state of control.
  • A timeline for performing appropriate process performance qualification for each of your marketed drug products.
  • Include your process performance protocol(s), and written procedures for qualification of equipment and facilities.
  • A detailed program for designing, validating, maintaining, controlling, and monitoring each of your manufacturing processes that includes vigilant monitoring of intra-batch and inter-batch variation to ensure an ongoing state of control. Also, include your program for qualification of your equipment and facility.
  • A procedure for your water system monitoring that specifies routine microbial testing of water to ensure its acceptability for use in each batch of drug products produced by your firm.
  • The current action/alert limits for total counts and objectionable organisms used for your (b)(4) Water system. Ensure that the total count limits for your (b)(4) water are appropriately stringent in view of the intended use of each of the products produced by your firm.
  • A procedure governing your program for ongoing control, maintenance, and monitoring that ensures the remediated system consistently produces water that meets (b)(4) Water, USP monograph specifications and appropriate microbial limits.

MARCS-CMS 642595 — FEBRUARY 01, 2023 Case #: 642595

1. The firm's purified water system used to manufacture drug products was not designed and maintained appropriately for its intended use.

2. Firm's water system included a dead leg and was not continuously circulating, which could foster the development of biofilms. When the water was not in use, it sat stagnant in the system except when the (b)(4) points-of-use (POUs) were opened.
3. In firm's response, firm discussed the current controls in place for the water system and the use of testing data from their “validation report.” Firm also indicate they employ the use of (b)(4) during production on a (b)(4) basis. Firm commit to increase the testing frequency to include each batch of water produced for OTC drug products and to (b)(4).

4.Firm's response was found to be inadequate by authority. Firm failed to describe how the water system maintenance, cleaning process, seasonal variations, and other actual conditions of use were considered during the “validation” efforts and to provide adequate justification for the sampling frequency. Your response also fails to address that you do not perform (b)(4) testing on the (b)(4) that firm use during production.

5.Microbiological methods used for determining the quality of purified water and finished drug products were deficient.

Case #: 642267 WARNING LETTER

1. The firm failed to adequately design, validate, and control the water system to ensure that it was suitable for producing water used in the formulation of the drug products.

2. Firm lacked water system validation, chemical and microbiological limits for component water, and routine monitoring for chemical and microbiological quality. Inadequate control and monitoring of the water system pose a potential risk for the presence of objectionable microbiological contamination in the drug products.

3.Pharmaceutical water must meet the Purified Water USP monograph, be suitable for its intended use, and routinely tested to ensure ongoing conformance with appropriate chemical and microbiological attributes. This was not complied by the firm.