Recommendations for Expounding Evaluation of Biological (Specific) Activity of Biotechnological Products in Product Specification Files

Biotechnological products, like all other medicinal products, have to comply with efficacy, safety and quality requirements. Quality evaluation of medicines includes assessment of test methods used to control medicinal product quality (described in product specification files provided by the manufacturer), laboratory testing of samples using these methods, as well as assessment of the registration dossier materials, including materials on test method validation included into the product specification files. One of the most important quality parameters of biotechnological products is biological activity, i.e. specific ability of a product to induce a desired biological effect. The article presents the results of a detailed analysis of methods used for determination of biological (specific) activity that are described in product specification files of various biotechnological products. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the importance of proper presentation of methods used for assessment of biological (specific) activity of biotechnological products and familiarise specialists engaged in elaboration of product specification files with the principles of presenting data in the «Biological (specific) safety» section. The analysis of documentation helped summarise the most common mistakes and omissions, formulate general recommendations concerning the description of methods, develop a general structure of the «Biological (specific) safety» section with detailed guidance on what to include in each of the subsections. Rationalisation of information presented in this part of the product specification files will help reduce the number of expert body’s requests for additional information/documents and will help ensure that laboratory testing is performed at a high professional level and within a prescribed period of time.

1. Федеральный закон Российской Федерации от 22 декабря 2014 г. № 429-ФЗ «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон «Об обращении лекарственных средств» (редакция от 03.07.2016). [Federal Law of the Russian Federation of December 22, 2014, No. 429-FZ «On Amendments to the Federal Law «On Circulation of Medicines» (edition of July 3, 2016) (In Russ.)]

2. Федеральный закон Российской Федерации от 12 апреля 2010 г. № 61-ФЗ «Об обращении лекарственных средств» (редакция от 04.06.2018). [Federal Law of the Russian Federation of April 12, 2010, No. 61-FZ «On Circulation of Medicines» (edition of June 4, 2018) (In Russ.)]

3. ICH Topic Q 6 B: Note For Guidance on Specifications: Test Procedures and Acceptance Criteria for Biotechnological/Biological Products (CPMP/ICH/365/96).

4. Лысикова СЛ, Головинская ОВ, Зубков ДА, Мовсесянц АА. Обеспечение качества испытания при оценке специфической активности биотехнологических лекарственных средств. Медицинская иммунология. 2017;19(S):273–4. [Lysikova SL, Golovinskaya OV, Zubkov DA, Movsesyants AA. Ensuring the Quality of the assay in estimating of the specific activity of biotechnological products. Meditsinskaya immunologiya = Medical Immunology. 2017;19(S):273–4 (In Russ.)]

5. Устинникова ОБ, Рунова ОБ, Величко ЕВ. Рекомендации к составлению нормативной документации на иммунобиологические лекарственные препараты в части физико-химических показателей качества. Ведомости Научного центра экспертизы средств медицинского применения. 2015;(3):8–12. [Ustinnikova OB, Runova OB, Velichko EV. Recommendations for drafting regulatory documents on immunobiological medicines particularly the section on physicochemical quality characteristics. Vedomosti Nauchnogo tsentra ekspertizy sredstv meditsinskogo primeneniya = The Bulletin of the Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products. 2015;(3):8–12 (In Russ.)]

6. ICH Topic Q 2 (R1): Note for Guidance on Validation of Analytical Procedures: Text and Methodology (CPMP/ICH/381/95).

7. Общая фармакопейная статья 1.1.0012.15 «Валидация аналитических методик». Государственная Фармакопея Российской Федерации. XIII изд. Т. 1, М.; 2015. [General monograph 1.1.0012.15 Validation of analytical procedures. V. 1. Moscow; 2015 (In Russ.)]

8. Руководство по экспертизе лекарственных средств. Т. 2. М.: Гриф и К; 2014. [Guidance on evaluation of medicines. V. 2. Moscow: Grif i K; 2014 (In Russ.)]