All pharmaceutical companies follow set standards when producing medicines and other pharmaceutical products. These standards determine the overall product quality and cover everything including style, origin, indulgence, manufacture, packaging, modification, storage, and freeing.
Today, let’s zero in on the active pharmaceutical ingredient. What is it and what do you know about it.
1. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Meaning
The active pharmaceutical ingredient or API is a common term in the pharmaceutical industry used to refer to the active component of a drug (capsule, tablet, syrup) that is biologically active. Apart from API, the other components that make up a drug are referred to as excipients and typically act as a medium of transportation for the API. According to the FDA, APIs are meant to cause a pharmacological activity or a series or direct effects in the cure, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease.
2. Regulations around APIs
Regardless of where a pharmaceutical company is located, it must adhere to stringent safety and quality standards put in place by the country where the product is intended for. Therefore, China and USA pharma companies are regulated by the FDA. In the same way, if the API is intended to be consumed in Europe, they would need to abide by the rules and regulations stipulated by the European Medicines Agency.
3. Importance of regulatory compliance in API manufacturing
Medicines are meant for human use. They enhance a quick recovery from illness with few or no side effects. When they are of low quality, they can do more harm than to the body. Implementation of good manufacturing practices (GMP) in the pharmaceutical industries is an obligation and a legal requirement. GMP covers many areas of the drug-making process including the reception of raw materials, product storage, packaging and repackaging, labeling and relabeling, online documentation, quality control, hygiene and sanitation, investigation of failures and other things associated with the manufacturing process. Failure to meet these standards will make the regulatory agencies issue warning letters. If the letters go unnoticed, the FDA will be forced a cease-and-desist letter to terminate the facility altogether.
Final Thoughts
APIs are vital compounds during the manufacture of pharmaceutical products. It is the part of the drug that makes it effective in treating an illness. To ensure it achieves this without harming the body, authorities have rules and regulations on the drug manufacturing process that must be adhered to by all industry manufacturers.
