The aim of the research was to study the current industrial practice of drug quality risk management in Russian pharmaceutical enterprises, including the assessment of the main problems during the implementation of the risk management system and its compliance with the accepted international approaches.Materials and methods. In the period from 6 April to 10 May 2020, an online survey of the leading employees in the field of quality assurance of Russian manufacturers was conducted. In the survey, the questionnaire was based on the results of the authors’ analysis of the national regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, the European Union countries, international guidelines of the EAEU, ICH and WHO in this area. 111 people took part in the survey, the return of questionnaires was 11.5%.Results. The data obtained indicate the prevalence of a superficial approach to quality risk management in the Russian pharmaceutical industry, the presence of objective and subjective reasons that hinder the effective implementation of these methods, the fragmentation of the systems used and, in most cases, their ineffective use. The respondents believe that the most significant reasons for the difficulties in implementing this methodology, are the lack of recommendations from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia on creating an effective quality risk management system and a shortage of the specialists who are ready to work in the area of this industry. The survey revealed rather large gaps in the deployment of a risk management system at the enterprise and separation from the established international practice.Conclusions. The data obtained indicate the extreme urgency of developing recommendations for a quality risk management system, which should be based upon and supported by Russian regulatory legal acts and international experience in this area. The authors propose highlights for these recommendations.

Introduction. The article is focused on differences in quality assurance-related obligations and responsibilities between Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) and manufacturing authorisation holder (manufacturers) in pharmaceutical industry. In case of outsourcing and technical agreements there is a need to differentiate responsibilities related to quality assurance between the above mentioned categories.Text. The guidelines for the pharmaceutical sector of the European Union (EU) provide guidance on the responsibilities of the MAHs in relation to the GMP rules, which are scattered throughout the various chapters of the GMP and its appendices. In addition, certain provisions on this topic are contained in the EU directives. With this in mind the European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued in January 2020 a draft Reflection paper on Good manufacturing practice and Marketing Authorisation Holders. The draft clarifies that while certain activities of an MAH may be delegated to the manufacturer, MAH retains ultimate responsibility for the performance of a medicinal product, its safety, quality and efficacy. The important obligation of MAH in this context is to facilitate GMP compliance by establishing a robust two-way communication system with national competent authorities, manufacturing sites, Qualified Persons (QPs) certifying batches before release, and other interested parties. The MAH ought to communicate to manufacturing personnel, normally through QPs, production processes and related quality control procedures, including subsequent variations, described in registration dossiers.Conclusion. A general one conclusion: in view of rapid developments in the EU GMP Guide, the Eurasian Economic Union GMP requirements ought to be updated. In respect of specific responsibilities of MAH pertaining to GMP compliance the EMA draft Reflection paper merits attention as a guidance regarding separation of obligations and responsibilities between MAH and personnel of manufacturing sights.

Introduction of amendments to the registration dossier is the responsibility of the marketing application holder (MAH). Increased knowledge on pharmaceuticals, its manufacturing and control processes can reduce the number of documents submitted to the regulatory authorities. The existing requirements establishing the procedure for the introduction of amendments differ in terms of change classification, period of notification of regulatory authorities, ways of conformity validation of pharmaceutical properties, etc. ICH proposed draft guideline Q12 «Technical and Regulatory Considerations for Pharmaceutical Product Lifecycle Management» which covers the problem of harmonization of regulatory approaches to the changes provided in the «Quality» section of CTD during the commercial phase of drug life cycle. The new guideline can be considered as the continuation and elaboration of previous ICH documents. The article provides explanations on the main provisions and regulatory mechanisms introduced by the draft guideline ICH Q12: categorization of post-approval changes, established conditions, post-approval change management protocol, and drug product lifecycle management.

The aim of the study is to investigate topical problems of the professional and personal development of qualified persons responsible for quality of medicinal products for human use.Materials and methods. In the period from April 6 to May 10, 2020, an online survey of leading employees in the field of quality assurance of Russian manufacturers was conducted. 176 people took part in the survey; the return of questionnaires was about 17.9%.Results. From the standpoint of D. Super’s theory of professional development, the largest number of respondents was at the maintenance stage, holding their achieved positions (53.2%). All respondents, regardless of age, were motivated for professional development. Most often qualified persons had chemical engineering (27.3%) and pharmaceutical education (22.2%). Most of them had a working experience in 1–2 divisions of the enterprise, and combined the functions of qualified persons with managerial positions (74.5% and 71.9%, respectively). The majority of the qualified persons (86.4%) indicated the sufficiency of the available knowledge and the lack of knowledge on certain issues. Knowledge and skills in the quality risk management, specific GMP issues and statistical methods (59.0%, 49.2 and 44.2%, respectively); communication and interpersonal skills and, in particular, stress management, emotion management and the art of negotiation (49.4%, 41.3% and 40.9%, respectively), were most popular. About 36% of respondents notified the need for the digital economy competencies, while only 5.1% notified the presence of an electronic batch production record at the enterprise. Finally, only half of the respondents (50.5%) had a formal training plan for qualified persons.Conclusion. This pilot study revealed the need for the revision of the Exemplary Additional Professional Training Program for Qualified Persons and the professional standard, the urgent need for the regulatory body to develop a scheme and principles for the continuous professional development of qualified persons, and showed the direction of further research in this area.

Background: Conventional ophthalmic eye drops have low bioavailability (<5%) and poor patient adherence, driving the development of sustained-release ophthalmic drug delivery systems. The lacrimal drainage system represents a unique anatomical site for minimally invasive depot formulations. Objective: To summarize and critically appraise punctal and intracanalicular drug delivery systems, occlusive devices, and in situ-forming hydrogels with respect to composition, release mechanisms, clinical efficacy, safety, and critical quality attributes (CQAs). Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ClinicalTrials.gov, and patent/regulatory sources, including FDA materials and Google Patents, covering 2001–2026. Anatomical features, materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients, release profiles, and adverse events were analyzed. Results: Seventy-one sources were included. Occlusive plugs without an active pharmaceutical ingredient demonstrate premature expulsion in up to 57.4% of cases and bacterial colonization in 44%. Drug delivery systems provide release from 7 days (PEGDA hydrogels) to 3 months (Eximore, Ocular Therapeutix™). DEXTENZA^® (dexamethasone) is FDA-approved for postoperative inflammation, whereas pivotal trials of travoprost (OTX-TP) and latanoprost systems (L-PPDS, EXP-LP) did not demonstrate superiority over placebo or eye drops. In situ systems eliminate size-fitting requirements but face challenges related to gelation control and biodegradation. Conclusions: We propose the following candidate CQAs: retention (>80% over 4 weeks), swelling degree (30–60%), controlled burst release (<40% within 24 h), and mechanical compatibility. The proposed QTPP matrices for punctal, intracanalicular, and in situ systems may guide the development of ophthalmic drug delivery platforms.

Drugs must be produced in compliance with good manufacturing practice rules approved by an authorized federal agency. Pharmaceutical Quality System is a global requirement for development and production processes for pharmaceutical products. The article describes a variant of automated document management system of pharmaceutical manufacturer’s quality management system in accordance with current requirements of GMP. The peculiarity of the proposed system is the focuses on pharmaceutical production taking into account the characteristics and requirements for the pharmaceutical products production. All documents which are supposed to be used within the system are grouped into the four blocks: normative legal acts, core manufacturer standards according to GMP, regulatory documents, and register documents.