Pharmaceuticals process validation performance qualification

This chapter defines the terms, responsibilities, requirements and recommended procedures involved in pre-installation, installation qualification (IQ), operational qualification (OQ) and performance qualification (PQ), which are all part of a typical HPLC system validation process. As the FDA does not publish a definitive reference or cookbook for these procedures, the suggestions herein are only recommendations. These have been successfully incorporated into formal standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have been implemented at a number of larger pharmaceutical establishments. As long as proper SOPs... 

Figure 1 depicts the most commonly used approach to the qualification process as used in the pharmaceutical industry. It shows a pyramid, which is the best way in which to plan a qualification/validation project. Investing more time in the first phases will save time and money in later and critical phases. If inadequate investment is made during the start-up of a project, the later phases of installation qualification (IQ), operational qualification (OQ), and performance qualification (PQ) will necessarily require an inordinate amount of time and money. The project will be a pyramid again, but now it is inverted. 

The performance qualification (PQ) phase of validation follows the development of the sterilization specifications and of the sterilizer parameters which will deliver them. The purpose of PQ in steam sterilization of pharmaceutical products, equipment, laboratory media, and SIP systems is to confirm that the sterilization specification consistently achieves its intended purpose. The process is run using the parameters derived from process development on (usually) three separate occasions and tested for compliance with a variety of predetermined acceptance criteria. As a subset of PQ, the purpose of bio-validation is to confirm that the lethality expected from the process does not significantly deviate from what is expected. Biovalidation is a test of consistency. If the acceptance criteria are not achieved, there may be need for more process development. 

Validation is described as proof that the system performs as stated. As an engineering control, the LAF system must demonstrably support the intended aseptic or controlled process. Validation of the aseptic manufacturing process and the LAF systems that support terminal sterilization in pharmaceutical manufacturing applications should be carried out in accordance with industry standards. Such validation should be accomplished in three phases, consisting of installation qualification (IQ), operational qualification (OQ), and process qualification (PQ), with full and detailed documentation of all activities and... 

The recent literature on microwave-assisted chemistry has reported a multitude of different effects in chemical reactions and processes and attributed them to microwave radiation. Some of these published results cannot be reproduced, however, because the household microwave ovens employed often have serious technical shortcomings. Published experimental procedures are often insufficient and do not enable reproduction of the results obtained. Important factors required for qualification and validation, for example exact records, reproducibility, and transparency of reactions/processes, are commonly not reported, which poses a serious drawback in the industrial development of microwave-assisted reactions and processes for synthesis of fine chemicals, intermediates, and pharmaceuticals. Technical microwave devices for synthetic chemistry have been on the market for a while (cf a.m. explanations) and should enable comparative investigations to be conducted under set conditions. These investigations would enable better assessment of the observed effects. It is, furthermore, possible to obtain a better insight into the often discussed (nonthermal) microwave effects from these experiments (Ref. [138] and Chapter 4 of this book). Technical microwave systems are an important first step toward the use of microwave energy for technical synthesis. The actual scale-up of chemical reactions in the microwave is, however, still to be undertaken. Comparisons between microwave systems with different technical specifications should provide a measure for qualification of the systems employed, which in turn is important for validation of reactions and processes performed in such commercial systems. 

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