# Presentation: 036313

## Process Analytical Technologies

_**Process and Method**_
_**Validation**_

**February 2002**
** ****FDA Subcommittee Meeting**

**Leon Lachman, Ph.D.**
**President**
**Lachman Consultant Services, Inc.**

## Validation

- “Establishing documented evidence which provides a high degree of assurance that a specific process will consistently produce a product meeting its pre-determined specifications and quality attributes.”

## Qualification / Validation of Pharmaceutical Processes

- IQ and OQ and Calibrations need to be performed prior to use of equipment for process validation.

## European Agency Guidance for Process Validation

_**Validation**_ is the act of demonstrating and documenting that a procedure operates effectively.
_**Process validation**_ is the means of ensuring and providing documentary evidence that processes (within their specified design parameters) are capable of consistently producing a finished product of the required quality.

## European Agency Guidance for Process Validation

_**Change Control**_: Clearly defined procedures are needed to control changes proposed in production processes.  Such procedures should tightly control planned changes, ensure that sufficient supporting data are generated to demonstrate that the revised process will result in a product of the desired quality, consistent with  the approved specification and ensure that all aspects are thoroughly documented and approved.

## Representative Dosage Forms

- Solids: Tablets & Capsules
- Liquids – Solution
- Suspensions
- Emulsions
- Lyophilized
- Ointments / Creams

## Solids: Tablets & Capsules

- Size Reduction
- Blending
- Granulating

- Compressing
- Encapsulation
- Coating

## Powder Blending Operation

_**Equipment:**_ Blender geometry; use of intensifier bars; operating principle; size; recommended powder capacity for efficient blending
_**Blend:**_ Order of addition of ingredients; volume
_**Parameters:**__ _ RPMs; time
_**Homogeneity:**_ Blender; post-discharge; post-storage; sampling (number; location; size)

## Liquids - Solution

- Solution Studies of                                                                          	Ingredients
- Fill Uniformity
- Filter Compatibility
- Product Tubing 	Interaction
- Flush Volumes

- Cleaning / Sanitization
- Inert Gas 	Effectiveness
- Bioburden
- Pyroburden

## Suspensions

- Milling
- Mixing
- Viscosity
- Resuspendability
- Agglomeration
- Caking

## Emulsions

- Homogenation / Emulsification
- Viscosity
- Creaming
- Reemulsify
- Coalesce
- Globule Growth

## Lyophilized

- Freezing
- Temperature
- Rate
- Drying
- Temperature
- Vacuum

- Cake Appearance
- Dissolution
- Melt Back

## Ointments / Creams

- Active Distribution
- Particle Size
- Mixing
- Emulsification
- Viscosity

## Method Validation

- Method validation is the process of demonstrating that analytical procedures are suitable for their intended use and that they support the identity, strength, quality, purity and potency of the drug substances and drug products.

## Method Validation

- _Published Guidances_
- ICH-Q2A “Text on Validation of Analytical Procedure:(1994)
- ICH-Q2B “Validation on Analytical Procedures: Methodology: (1995)
- CDER “Reviewer Guidance: Validation of Chromatographic Method” (1994)
- CDER “Submitting Samples and Analytical Data for Method Validations” (1987)
- CDER Draft “Analytical Procedures and Method Validation” (2000)
- CDER “Bioanalytical Method Validation for Human Studies” (1999)
- USP<1225> “Validation of Compendial Methods” (current revision)

## ICH Topic Q2BValidation of Analytical Procedures

- The main objective of validation of an analytical procedure is to demonstrate that the procedure is suitable for its intended purpose.
- In practice, it is usually possible to design the experimental work so that appropriate validation characteristics can be considered simultaneously to provide a sound, overall knowledge of the capabilities of the analytical procedure, for instance: specificity, linearity, range, accuracy and precision.
- Well-characterized reference materials, with documented purity, should be used throughout the validation study.

## Considerations Prior to Method Validation

**Suitability of Instrument**
- Status of Qualification and Calibration
**Suitability of Materials**
- Status of Reference Standards, Reagents, Placebo Lots
**Suitability of Analyst**
- Status of Training and Qualification Records
**Suitability of Documentation**
- Written analytical procedure and proper approved protocol with pre-established acceptance criteria

## Examples of Methods That Require Validation Documentation

**Chromatographic Methods **– HPLC, GC, TLC, GC/MS, etc.
- Pharmaceutical Analysis – In support of CMC.
- Bioanalytical Analysis – In support of PK/PD/Clinical Studies.
**Spectrophotometric Methods **– UV-VIS, IR, NIR, AA, NMR, XRD, MS, etc.
**Capillary Electrophoresis Methods **– Zone, Isoelectric Focusing, Isotachophoresis, etc.
**Particle Sizer Analysis Methods **– Laser, Microscopic, Photozone, Sieving, SEC, etc.
**Dissolution Methods** – Method of Analysis – HPLC, UV, Automated, etc.
**Titration Methods.**
**Automated Analytical Methods **– Robots, Automated Analysis.

## Method Characteristics to Be Considered for Validation

- Specificity (Selectivity)
- Linearity
- Range
- Accuracy
- Precision
- Repeatability
- Intermediate Precision
- Reproducibility (Ruggedness)

- Detection Limit
- Quantitation Limit
- Robustness
- System Suitability 	Testing

## Specificity

- Specificity is the ability to assess unequivocally the analyte in the presence of components which may be expected to be present.  Typically these might include impurities, degradants, matrix, etc.

## Specificity

- It is not always possible to demonstrate that an analytical procedure is specific for a particular analyte (complete discrimination).  In this case a combination of two or more analytical procedures is recommended to achieve the necessary level of discrimination.

## Linearity

- The linearity of an analytical procedure is its ability (within a given range) to obtain test results which are directly proportional to the concentration (amount) of analyte in the sample.

## Range

- The range of an analytical procedure is the interval between the upper and lower concentration (amounts) of analyte in the sample for which it has been demonstrated that the analytical procedure has a suitable level of precision, accuracy and linearity.

## Accuracy

- The accuracy of an analytical procedure expresses the closeness of agreement between the value which is accepted either as a conventional true value or an accepted reference value and the value found.

## Precision

_**Repeatability**_ expresses the precision under the same operating conditions over a short interval of time.  Repeatability is also termed intra-assay precision.
_**Intermediate Precision**_ expresses within-laboratories variations: different days, different analysts, different equipment, etc.
_**Reproducibility**_** **expresses the precision between laboratories (collaborative studies, usually applied to standardization of methodology).

## Detection Limit

- The detection limit of an individual analytical procedure is the lowest amount of analyte in a sample which can be detected but not necessarily quantitated as an exact value.

## Quantitation Limit

- The quantitation limit of an individual analytical procedure is the lowest amount of analyte in a sample which can be quantitatively determined with suitable precision and accuracy.  The quantitation limit is a parameter of quantitative assays for low levels of compounds in sample matrices, and is used particularly for the determination of impurities and/or degradation products.

## Impurities (Quantitation)

- Accuracy should be assessed on samples (substance / product) spiked with known amounts of impurities.

## Robustness

- The robustness of an analytical procedure is a measure of its capacity to remain unaffected by small, but deliberate variations in method parameters and provides an indication of its reliability during normal usage.

## System Suitability Testing 

- System suitability testing is an integral part of many analytical procedures.  The tests are based on the concept that the equipment, electronics, analytical operations and samples to be analyzed constitute an integral system that can be evaluated as such.  System suitability test parameters to be established for a particular procedure depend on the type of procedure being validated.

## Regulatory Approaches

- Compendial Analytical Procedures
- Noncompendial Analytical 	Procedures and Validation 	Requirements

## Compendial Analytical Procedures

- The Analytical procedures in the USP 25/NF 20 are legally recognized under section 501(b) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as the regulatory analytical procedures for the compendial items. The suitability of these procedures must be verified under actual conditions of use.  When using USP 25/NF 20 analytical procedures, the guidance recommends that information be provided for the following characteristics:
- Specificity of the procedure
- Stability of the sample solution
- Intermediate precision

## Compendial Analytical Procedures

- Compendial analytical procedures may not be stability indicating, and this concern must be addressed when developing a drug product specification because formulation-based interference may not be considered in the monograph specifications.

## Appropriate Automation Can....

- Reduce variability 	associated with 	human 	interaction
- Increase knowledge of 	process
- Improve monitoring, 	control and decisions

- Improve process and 	product consistency
- Improve documentation 	& reporting capabilities
- Reduce costs

## Advantages...Process Validation

- Expanded real time monitoring and adjustment of process
- Enhanced ability to statistically evaluate process performance and product variables
- 		e.g., individuals; mean; range; control limits
- Enhanced data and evaluation capabilities and increased confidence about process reproducibility and product quality
- Improved ability to set target parameters and control limits for routine production, correlating with  validation results
- Enhanced reporting capability

## Consequences of Inadequate Automation 

- Acquired data may not be 	complete, accurate 	and/or representative
- Improper evaluation
- Process assurance and 	adjustments based on 	inadequate information
- Process deviations

- Product quality problems
- Avoidable costs:
- downtime
- rejection of in-process and finished product
- product recalls
- eroded goodwill

## Calibration and Maintenance

- Sensors must be calibrated
- e.g., time; temperature; pressure; wattage; humidity; weight; force; dimensions
- Controllers must be qualified, calibrated and maintained at appropriate intervals
- Environmental requirements for the computerized system must be defined, maintained and documented

## Compliance Issues...automated equipment

- System for reporting and evaluating deviations
- hardware
- software
- security
- life cycle management
- Equipment Maintenance
- Calibration
- Target and Control Limits
- versus validated parameters
- versus historical process performance

## Compliance Issues...automated equipment(continued)

- Operating Environment
- defined; controlled; documented
- In-Process Control Data...use and  	retention
- SOPs and Training
- Data Integrity
- Legacy Systems

## Closed System Controls

- Validation
- Electronic _and_ Human readable formats
- Protection to ensure accurate and ready retrieval
- Authorized access only

- Audit trails
- Device checks to 	determine validity 	of input
- Operational 	system checks, as 	appropriate

## Closed System Controls(continued)

- Written policies & procedures
- Controls over system documentation
- Operational system checks, as appropriate
- Controls over access to system operation and maintenance

- Revision and change 	control procedures
- Documented evolution 	of changes
- Qualified personnel