Nicola Hughes

Determination of carryover and contamination for mass spectrometry-based chromatographic assays

The Third American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists/Food and Drug Administration Bioanalytical Workshop, held in 2006, reviewed and evaluated current practices and proposed that carryover and contamination be assessed not only during the validation of an assay but also during the application of the method in a study. In this article, the potential risks of carryover and contamination in each stage of a bioanalytical method are discussed, to explain to the industry why this recommendation is being made.

The 2nd Calibration and Validation Group Workshop on recent issues in Good Laboratory Practice bioanalysis

This event was organized by the Calibration and Validation Group (a scientific nonprofit organization based in Toronto, Canada) as a 1.5-day workshop for contract research organizations and pharmaceutical companies involved in providing bioanalytical data for bioavailability, bioequivalence, pharmacokinetic and comparability studies.

Assessing the matrix effects of hemolyzed samples in bioanalysis

Validation of LC-MS/MS assays includes an assessment of matrix effects. Hemolysis effect, a special type of matrix effect, can also have an impact on analyte quantitation. In situations where the hemolysis effect is marginal, this can be resolved simply by dilution of hemolyzed samples with plasma prior to analysis. However, in some cases, the impact can be so dramatic that analytes are completely immeasurable. In such situations, modification to the bioanalytical method will be required, including, but not limited to, adjusting the chromatographic conditions to separate interferences present in hemolyzed samples; additional sample clean-up techniques such as protein precipitation in combination with SPE or a change in extraction technique such as from SPE to a liquid-liquid extraction method. Here, we report examples from four bioanalytical methods, where the presence of hemolyzed blood in plasma was found to have an impact on analyte quantitation and a description of the solutions adopted to resolve this are provided.

2016 White Paper on recent issues in bioanalysis: focus on biomarker assay validation (BAV) (Part 1 – small molecules, peptides and small molecule biomarkers by LCMS)

The 2016 10th Workshop on Recent Issues in Bioanalysis (10th WRIB) took place in Orlando, Florida with participation of close to 700 professionals from pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, and regulatory agencies worldwide. WRIB was once again a 5-day, weeklong event - A Full Immersion Week of Bioanalysis including Biomarkers and Immunogenicity. As usual, it was specifically designed to facilitate sharing, reviewing, discussing and agreeing on approaches to address the most current issues of interest including both small and large molecule analysis involving LCMS, hybrid LBA/LCMS, and LBA approaches, with the focus on biomarkers and immunogenicity. This 2016 White Paper encompasses recommendations emerging from the extensive discussions held during the workshop, and is aimed to provide the bioanalytical community with key information and practical solutions on topics and issues addressed, in an effort to enable advances in scientific excellence, improved quality and better regulatory compliance. This white paper is published in 3 parts due to length. This part (Part 1) discusses the recommendations for small molecules, peptides and small molecule biomarkers by LCMS. Part 2 (Hybrid LBA/LCMS and regulatory inputs from major global health authorities) and Part 3 (large molecule bioanalysis using LBA, biomarkers and immunogenicity) will be published in the Bioanalysis journal, issue 23.

9th GCC closed forum: CAPA in regulated bioanalysis; method robustness, biosimilars, preclinical method validation, endogenous biomarkers, whole blood stability, regulatory audit experiences and electronic laboratory notebooks

The 9th GCCClosed Forum was held just prior to the 2015 Workshop on Recent Issues in Bioanalysis (WRIB) in Miami, FL, USA on 13 April 2015. In attendance were 58 senior-level participants, from eight countries, representing 38 CRO companies offering bioanalytical services. The objective of this meeting was for CRO bioanalytical representatives to meet and discuss scientific and regulatory issues specific to bioanalysis. The issues selected at this years closed forum include CAPA, biosimilars, preclinical method validation, endogenous biomarkers, whole blood stability, and ELNs. A summary of the industrys best practices and the conclusions from the discussion of these topics is included in this meeting report.

The 10th GCC Closed Forum: rejected data, GCP in bioanalysis, extract stability, BAV, processed batch acceptance, matrix stability, critical reagents, ELN and data integrity and counteracting fraud

The 10th Global CRO Council (GCC) Closed Forum was held in Orlando, FL, USA on 18 April 2016. In attendance were decision makers from international CRO member companies offering bioanalytical services. The objective of this meeting was for GCC members to meet and discuss scientific and regulatory issues specific to bioanalysis. The issues discussed at this closed forum included reporting data from failed method validation runs, GCP for clinical sample bioanalysis, extracted sample stability, biomarker assay validation, processed batch acceptance criteria, electronic laboratory notebooks and data integrity, Health Canadas Notice regarding replicates in matrix stability evaluations, critical reagents and regulatory approaches to counteract fraud. In order to obtain the pharma perspectives on some of these topics, the first joint CRO-Pharma Scientific Interchange Meeting was held on 12 November 2016, in Denver, Colorado, USA. The five topics discussed at this Interchange meeting were reporting data from failed method validation runs, GCP for clinical sample bioanalysis, extracted sample stability, processed batch acceptance criteria and electronic laboratory notebooks and data integrity. The conclusions from the discussions of these topics at both meetings are included in this report.