Ask the Expert: Quality Control Units

In this episode of the Ask the Expert video series, Susan J. Schniepp, distinguished fellow at Regulatory Compliance Associates, and Siegfried Schmitt, PhD, vice president, Technical at Parexel, discuss how to address an FDA warning letter citation for a failure to establish a quality control unit.

Link to the Video and Article on Pharmaceutical Technology

After an FDA inspection of a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, any deviations the inspector might find during the inspection are reported on a Form 483 and sent to the manufacturer. If the company fails to properly respond to the agency, FDA will follow up with a warning letter. A common theme seen on warning letters is that companies fail to properly establish a quality control unit. So how should a company respond if they receive such a citation?

“Well, you see the mere fact that they actually received a warning letter means that their initial response to the observations by the FDA inspectors were considered inadequate or incomplete,” Siegfried Schmitt, vice president of Technical at Parexel, explains. “I think it’s therefore essential to admit that this shortcoming has happened, and so they should make sure that the response they now give to this warning letter is really a complete and convincing one and provides a remediation plan that will be acceptable to the authorities.

In this episode of the Ask the Expert video series, Susan J. Schniepp, distinguished fellow at Regulatory Compliance Associates, and Siegfried Schmitt, PhD, vice president, Technical at Parexel, discuss what manufacturers should do when they receive a warning letter from FDA for an insufficient quality control unit.