Trust is essential to everything we do in the pharmaceutical industry. Developing new drugs requires speaking the global language of data, which is meaningless without trust. Toxicity, efficacy, bioequivalence, and bioavailability are key measurements of drug safety and effectiveness, all spoken in the language of data. These only have meaning if there is trust. Imagine […]
Given all that’s happened with the federal government this past week, it’s no wonder that we’re not hearing much from the OGD. Communications appear to be quite slow to appear. Even the Federal Register prepublication page has few FDA postings over the last three weeks. Another instance of communication lapse: since March 7, 2025, only safety […]
April Fool’s Day was a difficult day for many FDA employees, because that was when many of them found out they were let go as they attempted to enter FDA’s White Oak HQ by swiping their badges at the entry gates. With many significant Offices and Division cuts, there are questions of how those cuts […]
In April 2018, whilst I was still an expert Inspector at the MHRA, I wrote a blog on vapour hydrogen peroxide. Having recently joined Lachman Consultants, I thought it would be an ideal time to revisit this subject to understand the current situation with this method and perhaps provide insight as to what Lachman could […]
Today, I read an article in Dickinson’s FDA Webview (here; subscription required) titled “Clinical Researchers Plead Guilty to Fraud” that has the following rather chilling opening line: “Two clinical research facility owners plead guilty in Florida federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with their work on two clinical trials testing drugs […]
Each year about this time the FDA sponsors an Advisory Committee meeting to flush out the best guesses of experts on what would be the best composition of next season’s flu vaccines. MSN reports (here), “[T]he annual meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) is crucial for drugmakers to ensure […]
There is a hint that the “pause” or freeze on communications from the FDA may be starting to thaw. This morning, a CDER Small Business and Industry Assistance (SBIA) Webinar titled Navigating Controlled Correspondences to Support Generic Drug Development, to be held on February 27, 2025 from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m., was posted with a request […]
A recent report in Nature Medicine (published February 17, 2025) highlights the long-term potential of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell products (aka CAR-T cell therapy), showcasing an exceptional 18-year remission in a neuroblastoma patient. This milestone is particularly significant given the historical challenges that CAR-T therapy has faced in effectively treating solid tumors like neuroblastoma, even while […]
Over 30 years ago, one of my responsibilities was overseeing the company’s Reference Standard Program for marketed products. In-house standards were maintained and provided to company locations throughout the world, which also included providing enough fully characterized/qualified drug substances or impurities to the USP to be considered as a potential future USP Reference Standard lot. […]
Water is a critical component used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, and it must meet specific quality standards in order to demonstrate that the water intended to be used for manufacture is suitable for its intended purposes. USP <1231> on Water for Pharmaceutical Purposes provides an overview of the different water types used in manufacturing, […]
