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Quality Assurance of Pharmaceutical Products

 
This section sums up all activities and responsibilities required to ensure that the drug that reaches the patient is safe, effective and acceptable. Moreover, this section presents the national guideline for Good Storage and Distribution Practices as well as the related self assessment. The current Good Manufacturing Practices are also available for local manufacturers.
 
Good Governance for Medicines and Quality Assurance Programmes

 
Quality Assurance of Pharmaceutical Products Program: The Way forward
This monograph reviews the history and development of promoting a sound policy in public health in Lebanon, with particular reference to the efforts that lead to the establishment of the Quality Assurance of Pharmaceutical Products Program at the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon in 2012. The steady involvement in the developmental work by Dr. Rita Karam is covered, and so is her supervision of the efforts leading to it. The presented monograph is well documented and supported by a list of rich references.

Quality Assurance of Pharmaceutical Products Program: The Way forward
 
Good Storage & Distribution Practices of Food Supplements in Lebanon
In line with the Good Storage & Distribution Practices of Pharmaceutical Products project that has brought core improvements at the level of the Lebanese pharmaceutical warehouses, the MoPH launches today through its Quality Assurance of Pharmaceutical Products program, the Good Storage & Distribution Practices of Food Supplements guideline.

The adequate storage and distribution of Food Supplements are a crucial activities to maintain their quality and integrity, to protect consumers from potential health risks and to ensure that they are not provided with misleading information.
 
 
Good Laboratory Practices for Pharmaceutical Quality Control Laboratories in Lebanon
The good laboratory practice provide advice on good practices for national pharmaceutical control laboratories involved in the analysis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients and pharmaceutical products.
 
These guidelines are consistent with the requirements of the WHO guidelines for good Laboratory practices and with the requirements of the International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005, and provide detailed guidance for laboratories performing quality control of medicines.
National pharmaceutical quality control laboratories usually encompass essentially two types of activity:
 
Compliance testing of APIs, pharmaceutical  excipients and pharmaceutical products employing “official” methods including pharmacopoeial methods, validated analytical procedures provided by the manufacturer or validated analytical procedures developed by the laboratory; 
Investigative testing of suspicious, illegal, counterfeit substances or products, submitted for examination by medicine inspectors, customs or police.
 
 
Good Storage and Distribution Practices of Pharmaceutical Products
Publication of the 5th edition of GSDP guidelines at ambient temperature, the 3rd edition Good Cold Chain Management for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and self-assessment sheet for evaluation of the GSDP implementation.

Ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of pharmaceutical products during storage and distribution is paramount. Two essential guidelines on Good Storage and Distribution Practices (GSDP) are pivotal in this regard.

The first guideline "Good Storage and distribution Practices (GSDP) of Pharmaceutical products at ambient temperature" focuses on the proper storage and distribution of pharmaceuticals at ambient temperatures. It emphasizes the need for meticulous handling to maintain product integrity.

The second guideline, "Good Cold Chain Management for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals", underscores the importance of environmental controls. This guideline stresses the critical role of temperature control, requiring adherence to predetermined conditions supported by stability data.
Both guidelines are essential for maintaining product quality throughout the distribution network in addition to the self-assessment sheet for evaluation of the GSDP implementation.

These guidelines, issued by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, are crucial for all parties involved in the pharmaceutical supply chain. They provide a comprehensive framework for ensuring the quality and identity of pharmaceutical products throughout the distribution process. Adhering to these guidelines is paramount to avoid the introduction of counterfeit products into the marketplace. The guidelines align with the World Health Organization's recommendations, emphasizing their importance in maintaining the integrity of the distribution chain.
   
 
Guidelines for the Drug Technical file submission: Module 3 (S and P Parts) and Module 5 (Bioequivalence Study)
The Drug Technical Document covers all the Quality, Safety and Efficacy information of a drug in a common format called the Common Technical Document (CTD). It has revolutionized the regulatory review processes, led to harmonized submission enabling the implementation of good review practices. For the pharmaceutical industries, it has eliminated the need to reformat the information for submission to the different regulatory authorities.

To improve the review and evaluation of the Module 3 and Module 5 of the Drug Technical file, the MOPH drafted the following 3 Guides:

These Guides are prepared by scientific experts and are intended to provide guidance and requirements for the preparation of the technical file to be submitted to the MOPH Technical Committee of Drugs. They are based on ICH standards and are useful for the Applicants of Generic Drug Technical file.

Biowaivers: Criteria And Requirements

A Biowaiver means that in vivo bioavailability and/or bioequivalence studies may be waived (not considered necessary for product approval). Instead of conducting expensive and time consuming in vivo studies, a dissolution test could be adopted as the surrogate basis for the decision as to whether the two pharmaceutical products are equivalent.

The risk of therapeutic inequivalence of two immediate release products can never be reduced to zero, even if a full clinical study is performed. The conclusion of comparative clinical studies, in vivo bioequivalence studies, in vitro equivalence tests and biowaivers is based on statistics and scientific data that are assumed to be representative for the products at issue.

The aim of biowaiver guidance is to reduce the risk of bioinequivalence to an acceptable level. Pharmaceutical development work aims at reducing the probability of manufacturing inequivalent formulations taking into account the critical aspects of the product at issue. In this context, the absorption phase is regarded as the critical process determining the equivalence of the pharmacokinetic profiles and thereby the therapeutic equivalence of the test and reference product.

In this report we will focus on BCS-based Biowaivers. However, other type of biowaivers had been discussed in regulation.  
 
 Regulations
ATC Name B/G Ingredients Dosage Form Price
P03AX01 SPIDOGALE G Benzyl benzoate - 10g/100ml, Sulfur colloïdal - 5g/100ml Lotion 207,336 L.L
R06AD52 CODOPALM G Promethazine HCl - 5mg/5ml, Sodium gentisate - 0.5mg/5ml Syrup 149,742 L.L
V07AB01 STERILE WATER FOR INJECTION G Water for injection - Water for injection, irrigation 264,311 L.L
A06AA01 HUILE DE PARAFFINE G Liquid paraffin - Liquid 207,336 L.L
B05BC01 MANNITOL 20% INJECTION USP G Mannitol - 20% 20% Injectable solution 613,662 L.L
C01EB17 BRAVIGO G Ivabradine (HCl) - 5mg 5mg Tablet, film coated 1,237,679 L.L
C09AA05 APO-RAMIPRIL G Ramipril - 10mg 10mg Capsule 1,178,550 L.L
C10AA05 ATORLIP 10 G Atorvastatin (calcium) - 10mg 10mg Tablet, film coated 1,052,037 L.L
J01CR02 AMOXICILLINA/ ACIDO CLAVULANICO G Amoxicillin (sodium) - 1g, Clavulanic Acid (potassium) - 200mg 1.2g Injectable powder for solution 16,577,136 L.L
J01FA10 AZOMYCIN G Azithromycin (dihydrate) - 250mg 250mg Capsule 361,494 L.L
L02BG03 VICTEVE G Anastrozole - 1mg 1mg Tablet, film coated 1,151,673 L.L
M01AB55 DIFEN PLUS G Diclofenac potassium - 50mg, Betamethasone - 0.3mg Tablet, coated 503,941 L.L
N01BB03 SCANDINIBSA G Mepivacaine HCl - 3% 3% Injectable solution 1,191,988 L.L
N03AX14 LEVIPHAR G Levetiracetam - 1000mg 1000mg Tablet, film coated 2,212,861 L.L
N05CM18 DEXMEDETOMIDINE EVER PHARMA G Dexmedetomidine HCl - 400mcg/4ml 400mcg/4ml Injectable concentrate for solution 15,543,897 L.L
R01AA05 UTABON G Oxymetazoline HCl - 0.5mg/ml 0.5mg/ml Spray, solution 302,365 L.L
V07AB01 STERILE WATER FOR INJECTION USP G Water for injection - Water for injection, irrigation 203,405 L.L
A10BD19 EMPAGLINE G Empagliflozin - 10mg, Linagliptin - 5mg Tablet, film coated 2,237,050 L.L
B01AE07 DAXATRAN G Dabigatran etexilate (mesilate) - 110mg 110mg Capsule, hard 2,576,338 L.L
B05BC01 MANNITOL 20% INJECTION USP G Mannitol - 20% 20% Injectable solution 344,754 L.L
C01EB17 IVABRADINE ARROW G Ivabradine (HCl) - 5mg 5mg Tablet, film coated, scored 1,323,685 L.L
C09AA05 NORMOPRIL G Ramipril - 10mg 10mg Tablet 599,354 L.L
C10AA05 ATORVA TAD G Atorvastatin - 10mg 10mg Tablet, film coated 677,297 L.L
G04BD07 TOREDA G Tolterodine (tartrate) - 2mg 2mg Tablet, film coated 2,311,409 L.L
J01CR02 AMOXICLAV-ORBUCELL G Amoxicillin - 1g, Clavulanic Acid (potassium) - 0.2g Injectable powder for solution 7,433,691 L.L
J01FA10 AZOMYNE G Azithromycin (dihydrate) - 250mg 250mg Capsule 385,683 L.L
L02BG03 ZORTEX G Anastrozole - 1mg 1mg Tablet, film coated 1,944,092 L.L
M01AB55 DIFEN B12 G Diclofenac potassium - 50mg, Betamethasone - 0.3mg, Cyanocobalamin - 5mg Tablet 503,941 L.L
N01BB09 ROPIVACAINA MOLTENI G Ropivacaine HCl - 75mg/10ml 7.5mg/ml Injectable solution 2,332,911 L.L
N03AX14 LEVIPRAM 1000 G Levetiracetam - 1000mg 1000mg Tablet, film coated 1,663,805 L.L
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