Drug substances biological products

Guideline Q6A—Specifications for New Drug Substances and Products Chemical Substances Guideline Q6B—Specifications Test Procedures and Acceptance Criteria for Biotechnological/Biological Products Other Quality Guidelines Relevant to Setting Specifications... 

Name, source, manufacturing sites, and date of manufacture of drug substance and drug or biological product... 

Biotechnological/Biological Products Derivation and Characterization of Cell Substrates Used for Production of Biotechnological/Biological Products Notice Draft Guidance on Specifications Test Procedures and Acceptance Criteria for New Drug Substances and New Drug Products Chemical Substances Notice... 

The tests for microbial limits and recommendations for microbial quality criteria of raw materials, excipients, drug substances, and pharmaceutical products have been established in pharmacopoeial compendia for over 30 years. These tests are listed in the USP 24 Chapter (61) Microbial Limits Tests and in the Ph. Eur. 3rd ed.. Biological Tests 2.6.12 and 2.6.13, Microbial Contamination of Products Not Required to Comply with the Test for Sterility (total viable count, tests for specified microorganisms) and the JP XIII 30 Microbial Limit Test. 

In theory, all impurities should be eliminated. In practice, it is generally not economically feasible to totally eliminate all impurities. However, the levels of all impurities should be controlled to provide a consistent product. In most cases, only low levels of impurities should be allowed, but in rare cases, even quite high levels of impurities are tolerated. In some cases, for example, biotechnology derived products such as macrocyclic antibiotics, or extracts of a botanical source such as some dietary supplements, the drug substance or active component contains multiple compounds, all of which have biological activity. However, only organic impurities, which include residual solvents in the drug substance, are addressed in this chapter. 

Drug products contain both drug substance (sometimes referred to as the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient [API]) and excipients. The resultant biological, chemical and physical properties of the dmg product are directly dependent on the excipients chosen, their concentration and interactions with the API [1]. 

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