The field of regulatory affairs is full of technicalities surrounding the development of pharmaceutical products. Regulatory professionals are responsible for liaising with pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers and global regulatory authorities to navigate the process of approving new products for the market. While engaging with others in the global healthcare field, regulatory affairs professionals also work on developing important documentation that details pharmaceutical guidelines and reports. Both verbal and written communication are essential skills for anyone looking to lead scientific conversations that determine the approval of new products on the healthcare market. If you’re training in the field of regulatory affairs, discover.. READ MORE »
You may be familiar with the development of animal cloning over time, such as Dolly the sheep, which was cloned in 1996. However, what you might not be familiar with is how this practice relates to food safety and food supply. When an animal is cloned, their genetic makeup is copied via the replacement of an egg cell’s nucleus with that of a mature somatic cell, with no need for an egg-sperm union. The subsequent DNA transfer leads to a new embryo, which is then transferred to a surrogate before eventually being delivered. Cloning animals for food production hasn’t been.. READ MORE »
A professional working in regulatory affairs has the task of ensuring that all kinds of products from cosmetics to pharmaceuticals to human and veterinary medicines meet legislative requirements. When it comes to vaccines, this process means reviewing emerging vaccines for safety, efficacy, and quality. The development of vaccines under normal circumstances requires trials involving thousands of people, and can take many years to approve under a stringent review process. In the face of COVID-19, many vaccines are currently being developed at a much quicker rate, presenting complicated challenges for both the manufacturers of these new products as well as the.. READ MORE »
Traditionally, pharmaceutical excipients are known for being non-medicinal components of a pharmaceutical product. Although they aren’t typically supposed to cause a reaction of any kind, they are a necessary part of a pharmaceutical product’s manufacturing phase. Excipients also help with breaking the product down in the user’s stomach, binding ingredients together, and stabilizing the product. As a student in regulatory affairs, you can learn how to ensure any pharmaceutical product adheres to federal and/or provincial regulations, and how to know when pharmaceutical excipients cause an adverse reaction. Here’s what students interested in regulatory affairs courses should know about pharmaceutical excipients… READ MORE »
Navigating the aisles of the pharmacy can be overwhelming. A customer looking to purchase some acetaminophen to relieve their headache is confronted with shelves stocked full of different versions of the substance from a variety of different brands. Though they may be more familiar with the Tylenol product, there is no significant difference between it and the plainer versions of the drug sitting next to it. Functionally, both drugs are the same, though there is a good reason both exist. Professionals who work in pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs are invested in the compliance of pharmaceutical and healthcare products with the.. READ MORE »
Package inserts give valuable information to patients regarding their medication. Usually, this includes prescribing information, also called professional information. Prescribing information includes: Brand and name of drug Potency and/or ingredients Standard of manufacture and manufacturer or sponsor Function of the drug Precautions or warnings Dosage and instructions for administering the drug Storage information Date prepared and preparations available Package inserts also help health care professionals, as they include things like special instructions for drugs that require specific dispensing like injection. In many cases, a separate document specifically for consumer or patient information is included, either separate from or as part.. READ MORE »
Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations place requirements on new drugs to ensure that they satisfy the standards for market release. In addition, the Therapeutic Products Directorate (TPD) regulates Canada’s prescription drugs and medical devices. New Drug Submissions are submitted to the TPD after three phases of clinical trials. The results from these trials need to be favourable, but once they have proven that the drug is safe enough to be submitted, the manufacturer will submit a New Drug Submission. These are important documents, along with Clinical Trial Applications (CTAs), Common Technical Documents (CTDs), and other regulatory requirements. If you’re studying.. READ MORE »
Mutual Recognition Agreements, or MRAs, help streamline the regulation of pharmaceuticals by establishing better cooperation between governments. This cooperation means that countries and regions can rely on one another’s testing and regulations of pharmaceutical products, instead of each region repeating the same processes on identical drugs. It’s a more efficient use of time and resources. Canada has a regulatory authority called the Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) of Health Canada. The HPFB regulates MRAs that Canada is a part of. MRAs ensure Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) are followed and make it easier for people around the globe to access.. READ MORE »
Across the country, many Canadians live with serious allergies capable of leading to anaphylaxis. This is an extreme allergic reaction that includes symptoms such as headaches, difficulty breathing, hives, and more. In some cases, it may occur at the same time as or lead to anaphylactic shock, which is a drop in blood pressure to dangerously low levels that makes it difficult for organs to receive blood. In all cases, a severe allergic reaction is a medical emergency. Every year, approximately 3,500 Canadians will experience anaphylaxis. For the majority of those who do experience it, a nearby EpiPen quickly administered.. READ MORE »
For years, researchers have been working to deliver functional gene therapy drugs to the market. Instead of treating symptoms or adding chemicals meant to assist the body in combating illness, gene therapy drugs would essentially overwrite DNA to make it more effective. This could lead to novel treatments for a number of as-yet untreatable illnesses, and revolutionize the way medicine approaches treatments more generally. Recently, and for the first time, the FDA approved the use of a gene therapy drug in the USA. It’s an important milestone on the road to wider adoption of this branch of medical technology, and.. READ MORE »
