Analytical Methods and Specifications

Analytical methods and specifications for the component materials, intermediates, and the final product... 

Analytical methods and specifications must be established and validated so as to define and control the quality and purity of the raw materials, intermediates and the finished product. For many standard chemical raw materials, the development of specifications will not be necessary as they are already published in US and European pharmacopoeia (for example, standards for water, organic solvents and various excipients). The ultimate objective of these activities is to be able to manufacture the drugs required for clinical trials in accordance with good manufacturing practice (GMP). 

Regarding laboratory controls, a review of laboratory notebooks and chromatograms should be done to check the reliability and authenticity of the supporting data in the methods development and testing of the clinical, bio, and stability batches. Reference standards used should be certified as standards. The FDA expects that, for bulk substances, the suitability of reference standards should be more extensive than that of bulk drug substance specifications. A comparison of analytical methods and specifications for lots of drug substance used in clinical batches and biobatches should be performed to see if any deletions or revisions to any specifications occurred. 

One should verify that the method of recordkeeping in the development laboratory follows what is stipulated in the FDA s Laboratory Inspection Guide, from June 1992. The system should also be evaluated for the transfer of validated analytical methods. On-site validation of the method is required for analytical methods validated at another laboratory. A written procedure should be available covering both the transfer of methods and onsite validation and revalidation. When contract laboratories are being used, verification that the laboratory is using the correct analytical methods and specifications should be performed. 

Radioisotope-labeled nitrosamines have proven valuable in development of analytical methods and for demonstrating efficiency of recovery of nitrosamines from tobacco products and smoke (37-39). The very high specific activity required for low part-per-billion determinations has discouraged most analysts from using this approach. Unless a radiochromatographic detector with adequate sensitivity is available, samples must be counted independently of the final chromatographic determination, and one of the advantages of internal standardization, correction for variation in volume injected, is lost. 

Verification implies that the laboratory investigates trueness and precision in particular. Elements which should be included in a full validation of an analytical method are specificity, calibration curve, precision between laboratories and/or precision within laboratories, trueness, measuring range, LOD, LOQ, robustness and sensitivity. The numbers of analyses required by the NMKL standard and the criteria for the adoption of quantitative methods are summarized in Table 10. 

The structure of the catalysts was characterized by X-ray diffraction, IR-spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, their thermal stability was followed by thermal analytical method. The specific surface area and pore size distribution of the samples were determined by nitrogen adsorption isotherms. 

See also Methacrylate monomers polymerization data for, 16 279t Methacrylic ester polymers, 16 271-298. See also Methacrylate monomers Methacrylic esters analytical test methods and specifications for, 16 291-293 bulk polymerization of, 16 281-282 chemical properties of, 16 276-277 electrical properties of, 16 276 emulsion polymerization of, 16 285-288 glass transition temperature of, 16 273-274... 

Two somewhat different types of null hypotheses are tested, one during the development and validation of an analytical method and the other each time the method is used for one purpose or another. They are stated here in general form but they can be made suitably specific for experimentation and testing after review and specification of the physical, chemical and biochemical properties of the analyte, the matrix, and any probable interfering substances likely to be in the same matrix. Further, the null hypotheses of analytical chemistry are cast and tested in terms of electronic signal to noise ratios because modern analytical chemistry is overwhelmingly dependent on electronic instrument responses which are characterized by noise. 

The goal of harmonization is to bring the policies, standards, monograph specifications, analytical methods, and acceptance criteria of pharmacopoeias into agreement. Such imity may, however, not always be achievable. Where imity cannot be achieved, harmonization means agreement based upon objective comparability and a clear statement of any differences. The goal, therefore, is harmony, not imison. 

Guidance can be found regarding the validation of chemical methods applicable to mierobial testing. Examples inelude the USP Chapter (1225) Validation of Compendial Methods, and a recent publieation by the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Validation of Analytical Methods. These publications provide specific instruction regarding the demonstration of new ehemical analytical methods and then-equivalence to existing methods. 

Selectivity is often referred to as the specificity of an analytical method and is a measure of the discriminating ability of the technique. The general requirement for specificity is that the method should be capable of unambiguously determining the compounds of interest in the presence of impurities, degradation products and other sample matrix components. A specificity study often involves accelerated degradation studies to ensure all degradation products will not interfere and the collection of likely process impurities. Often a placebo sample is assayed to check for interference fi om the sample matrix. 

Organic and inorganic molecular species (except homonuclear molecules) absorb in the IR region. IR spectroscopy has the potential to determine the identity of an unusually large number of substances. Moreover, the uniqueness of a MIR spectrum confers a degree of specificity which is matched or exceeded by relatively few other analytical methods. This specificity has found particular applications for the development of quantitative IR absorption methods. However, these differ from quantitative UV/Vis techniques in their greater spectral complexity, narrower absorption bands, and the technical limitations of IR instruments. Quantitative determinations obtained from IR spectra are usually inferior in quality and robustness to those obtained with UV/Vis and NIR spectroscopy. In addition, univariate or linear cali-... 

Typical parameters that are generally considered most important for validation of analytical methods are specificity, selectivity, precision, accuracy, extraction recovery, calibration curve, linearity, working range, detection limit, quantification limit, sensitivity, and robustness. 

Immunochemical methods provide a powerful tool in the field of drug residue analysis. The exquisite specificity that can be obtained with immunochemical reagents provides new analytical opportunities that were previously not possible with classic analytical methods and can greatly reduce the amount of sample cleanup required prior to analysis. 

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