The introduction of monographs on new types of herbal substances, which were not included in the previous editions of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation (Ph. Rus.), and the introduction of the new powder dosage form of herbal medicinal products require alignment of requirements for the degree of fineness of medicinal products. The aim of the study was to compare Russian and foreign pharmacopoeial requirements for the degree of fineness of herbal substances and herbal medicinal products. The analysis demonstrated that in the case of cut herbal substances and powder, the Ph. Rus., XIV edition, establishes limits for the percent of particles that pass through and particles that are retained by a sieve with a specified pore diameter. In the case of whole herbal substances, the Ph. Rus. establishes limits for the percent of particles that pass through a sieve with a specified pore diameter. The monographs of the world leading pharmacopoeias include general requirements for the size of particles in all powders produced from chemically synthesized substances, as well as from naturally occurring and mineral substances, while individual monographs have no requirements for the degree of fineness of herbal substances. The national pharmacopoeias of the Eurasian Economic Union member states also include requirements for the degree of fineness of herbal substances, but they are not sufficient. The results of the analysis of the established limits demonstrate the need to change the controlled size of small and large particles for some types of herbal substances.

Sea water and sea salt obtained from it are widely used as substances in the production of medicinal products. Complex chemical composition of sea water which contains various salts, calls for the development of a common quality standard for sea water-based medicines. The aim of the study was to analyse and summarise available data on the sources of sea water-based medicines, and on the current test methods, as well as to develop a unified approach to quality control. The paper summarises information on the use of sea water for medical purposes. It presents comparative data on the chemical composition of sea water obtained from different sources, manufacturing technologies of sea water-based medicines, and composition of medicines produced from sea water or sea salt. The paper summarises data on the use of sea water for the production of various dosage forms: drops, sprays, aerosols. The study revealed qualitative and quantitative differences in the content of major cations and anions in drug products. The authors analysed the use of various chemical and physico-chemical test methods for qualitative and quantitative characterisation of medicines. It was concluded that there is a need to harmonise quality control methods for sea water-based medicines.

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), or primary immune thrombocytopenia, is an orphan disease associated with thrombocytopenia. One of the most recent and promising approaches to ITP treatment is the use of thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs). The scope of TPO-RA use is expanding rapidly, which stimulates the development of both innovator and generic (or biosimilar) medicines. The aim of the paper was to assess TPO-RA role in ITP treatment, methodological approaches to TPO-RA development, and feasibility of using the platelet count as a pharmacodynamic marker in bioequivalence studies of peptide TPO-RAs in healthy volunteers. Clinical development of new medicines for the treatment of thrombocytopenia includes comparative, parallel-group trials lasting about a year. The standard approach to bioequivalence studies, which is based on the results of comparative pharmacokinetic studies, can be used in marketing authorisation applications for generic non-peptide TPO agonists, while peptide TPO agonists have to comply with specific requirements for biosimilar products. The orphan status of ITP does not affect the development strategy and study design, but it limits the number of patients that could be included into the study. In the absence of valid surrogate biomarkers of efficacy, demonstration of comparable clinical efficacy of the biosimilar and reference drug is usually required in a randomised, parallel, preferably double-blind comparative study. On the other hand, clinical comparability of the biosimilar and reference drug can also be demonstrated in comparative pharmacodynamic studies, if the selected biomarker is a well-established and valid surrogate marker which correlates with patient clinical outcome. Platelet count is a key parameter in both diagnosis of diseases associated with low platelet levels and assessment of treatment efficacy. Therefore, it can be used as a pharmacodynamic marker in bioequivalence studies of biosimilar peptide TPO-RAs. It was concluded that such studies could be performed in healthy volunteers, and not in patients, whose participation in clinical trials is limited due to the orphan status of ITP.

Most important quality attributes of any radiopharmaceutical (RPh) are its radiochemical purity (RCP) or content of radiochemical impurities (RCIs) that have to comply with respective norms and limits. However, at present, there is no unified approach to validation of analytical methods in the context of highly radioactive samples.

The aim of the study was to develop an approach to validation of methods for determination of RCI content in RPhs.

Materials and methods: the authors determined the content of RCIs in a radiopharmaceutical formulation containing a complex of technetium-99m and methylenediphosphonic acid by the radiometric method after isolation of impurities from the main compound by thin-layer chromatography using silica gel and methyl ethyl ketone (for sodium pertechnetate determination) and silica gel and 13.6% sodium acetate solution (for determination of hydrolysed reduced technetium-99m). The radioactivity was registered by a chromatogram scanner with a detector of gamma-rays with energies from 0.05 to 1.5 MeV.

Results: the paper analyses existing official approaches to validation of analytical procedures and compares them with the results of experimental studies described in available publications. It assesses the validation parameters for compliance with the acceptance criteria set forth in the current regulations and substantiates selectivity of chromatographic determination of impurities under the selected test conditions. Coefficients of variation for repeatability, reproducibility, and accuracy did not exceed 4.5, 2.8, and 8.9%, respectively, given the relative error of not more than 10.5%. The study demonstrated signal linearity for the 10-fold dilution of the standardised sodium pertechnetate solution, it also demonstrated correspondence between the applied and detected radioactivity when performing the test in the impurity content range of 0.5–5%. The validation procedure was associated with significant radiation burden for the personnel of the quality control laboratory.

Conclusions: the authors suggested a methodological approach to validation of methods for determination of RCI content in technetium-99m-based RPhs. This approach may be used in the development of a guideline on validation of analytical methods for RCP/RCI determination in RPhs, or for introduction of relevant sections into existing documents.

The paper discusses the system of managing risks arising during preclinical studies (risks for the health of personnel and laboratory animals, as well as risks associated with sanitation of premises) as a way to improve and control the efficiency of processes and the safety of facilities involved in preclinical studies.

The aim of the study was to analyse the risk assessment system’s efficiency for improvement of drug safety assessment during preclinical studies in the context of animal care and use programmes.

Materials and methods: the Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) method was used to assess the sanitary and hygienic conditions in laboratory animal facilities, as well as health status and welfare of laboratory animals and the attending personnel. The study checked the presence of pathogenic and opportunistic microflora as the main potential inconsistencies.

Results: the risk assessment performed during monitoring of laboratory animal health, monitoring of surface cleanliness, and assessment of personnel health, helped to establish a list of the most dangerous pathogens that require stricter control. In order to reduce risks arising during preclinical studies, the following set of measures was proposed: monitoring of the living environment and health of laboratory animals, revision of therapeutic and preventive measures for laboratory animals (including adjustment of antibiotic treatment depending on antimicrobial resistance of microorganisms), monitoring of the personnel health status, taking measures to enhance the personnel vigilance with respect to their own health, prohibition to work at the premises for employees showing symptoms, control of how the employees showing symptoms observe the prohibition to work at the premises, organisation of periodic medical examinations for personnel having contact with laboratory animals.

Conclusions: the risk-based assessment helped to identify the most dangerous potential inconsistencies (pathogenic and opportunistic microflora) and the necessary preventive measures to control and manage potential risk consequences.

Validation/verification of microbiological methods is a prerequisite for quality control of non-sterile drugs. However, the use of existing procedures for validation/verification of analytical methods is challenging, since a number of factors, such as microorganism distribution in the sample, cell morphology, and metabolic activity of microorganisms contribute to the error in microbiological testing.

The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of using the microbiological method validation parameters for validation/verification of the agar plate method.

Materials and methods: 18 non-sterile medicinal products were used in the study. Experiments included determination of antimicrobial activity. The quantification of viable bacteria, yeasts and moulds was performed using the modified pour plate method. The statistical processing of the obtained results was performed using Microsoft Excel 7.0 and Statistica 8.0.

Results: the paper provides the results of quantitative determination of test microorganisms inoculated into non-sterile drugs. The results were obtained as part of validation/verification of the agar plate method of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, XIV ed.

Conclusions: the validation/verification of the test method for isolation and quantification of microorganisms revealed no deviations of the study results from the established acceptance criteria. This proves the feasibility of using the following validation parameters: accuracy, precision, robustness, and limit of quantitation when validating new methods for quantitative determination of microorganisms or verification of previously validated methods.