SwissMedic Publishes Q&A Document on interpretation of GMP Annex 1

On October 31^st, the Swiss Medicines Inspectorate published a technical interpretation of GMP Annex 1. The interpretation focuses on some of the most significant changes of the revision 2022 of Annex 1 “Manufacture of Sterile Medicinal Products”. It also addresses aspects that were already included in the previous guideline version and have consistently prompted questions.

It should be noted that the document references the revised Annex 1 of the PIC/S GMP Guideline (PE 009) about the manufacture of sterile medicinal products. This was adopted on 9 September 2022 by the PIC/S Committee and came into force on 25 August 2023 (with the exception of point 8.123, which will become binding from 25 August 2024).

Contents of the document

The document consists of a list of questions regarding chapters of Annex 1 and the corresponding answers as interpreted by SwissMedic.

It includes the following sections:

1. Purpose and scope
2. Basics
3. Definitions and abbreviations
4. Interpretation: Questions and Answers

4.1     Scope (Annex 1, Chapter 1)

4.2     Premises (Annex 1, Chapter 4)

4.3     Utilities (Annex 1, Chapter 6)

4.4     Personnel/Training (Annex 1, Chapter 7)

4.5     Production and Specific Technologies (Annex 1, Chapter 8)

4.6     Environmental & Process monitoring (Annex 1, Chapter 9)

4.7     Quality Control (QC) (Annex 1, Chapter 10)

5. Changes to the previous version

Some questions aim to provide further clarification on the language used in the document, but there are also several inquiries regarding the assessments of single-use systems (SUS).

The document contains a total of forty-six questions and their corresponding answers.

SOURCES:

Interpretation of GMP Annex 1 2022 (Rev. 1).