PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPs – what’s the difference?
As many are aware, the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) develops and provides standards and guidelines for the harmonisation of Good Manufacturing Practice(GMP) in the global pharmaceutical industry.
Those who fall under the umbrella of participating countries, often take for granted the fact that PIC/S is the go-to for compliance (i.e. Part 1, Part 2 (API), and the accompanying Related Annexes). However, non-members often use a different standard, namely, the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard – Annex 2 WHO good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products: main principles.
Because they are both “GMP” standards, common questions that follow are:
“Can’t I just use the WHO GMPs?”
“Aren’t the WHO and PIC/S GMPs the same?”
Answers depend on who your target market is. For example, if you are a non-participating country supplying your own country with products, then you could argue that you don’t need the PIC/S GMPs.
However, if you are a non-participating country who either:
- Wants to become a PIC/S member, or
- Wants to export products to PIC/S member countries
– then, you will need to update your GMP codes.
While it’s all well and good to say: “Yes there is a difference between PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPs,” it’s not particularly useful if you don’t know exactly where they differ.
So, here at PharmOut, we decided to do the heavy lifting for you and did a clause by clause comparison of the following standards for PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPs:
- Annex 2 WHO good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products: main principles (Annex 2, WHO Technical Report Series 986, 2014; sourced from here) – (WHO GMPs)
- PIC/S Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Medicinal Products Part I (PE 009-14 Part I) – (PIC/S Part I)
Where relevant, PIC/S Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Medicinal Products Annexes (PIC/S Annexes) were also consulted.
So, what is the difference between PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPs?
Firstly, the references to the main compliance standards in the WHO GMPs are not up to date:
- Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention, Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S). In: Guide to good manufacturing practice for medicinal plants. Geneva, PIC/S Secretariat, 2000.
- EudraLex – Volume 4. Good manufacturing practice (GMP) Guidelines. European Commission.
Current PIC/s is at PE 009-14 (Part I) as of 1 July 2018. While a comparison to EudraLex is out of scope for this blog, it should be noted that EudraLex has since had other updates since the WHO publication in 2014 and can be seen here.
An overview of the related chapters in the PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPs is provided below, specifically where they overlap:
Section | WHO GMPs | Corresponding PIC/S Part I Chapters |
1 | Pharmaceutical Quality System
Good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products |
Chapter 1- Pharmaceutical Quality System
|
2 | Sanitation and hygiene | Chapter 5- Production (Prevention of cross-contamination in production)
Chapter 2 – Personnel (Personnel Hygiene) |
3 | Qualification and validation | Chapter 5 – Production (Validation)
Chapter 3 – Premises and Equipment |
4 | Complaints
Product recalls |
Chapter 8 – Complaints and Product Recall
|
5 | Contract production, analysis and other activities
|
Chapter 7 –Outsourced activities
|
6 | Self-inspection, quality audits and suppliers’ audits and approval
|
Chapter 9 – Self-inspection
Principle |
7 | Personnel
|
Chapter 2 – Personnel
|
8 | Training | Chapter 2 – Personnel (Training) |
9 | Personal hygiene | Chapter 2 – Personnel (Personnel Hygiene) |
10 | Premises
|
Chapter 3 – premises and equipment
|
11 | Equipment | Chapter 3 – premises and equipment
|
12 | Materials
|
Chapter 4 – Documentation (Specifications)
Chapter 5 – Production
Chapter 6 – Quality Control
|
13 | Documentation
|
Chapter 4 – Documentation
|
14 | Good practices in production
|
Chapter 5 – Production
|
15 | Good practices in quality control
|
Chapter 6 – Quality Control
|
From this, it is clear that while there are definitely sections that overlap in the PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPs, PIC/S has structured the information differently and has also provided far more detail for certain sections.
10 main discrepancies between PIC/S GMPs vs WHO GMPS
The comparison revealed 10 sections in the WHO GMPs that did not align with current PIC/S GMPs:
- Quality Risk Management(QRM) – mentioned only twice in WHO GMPs, however, there is an entire annex dedicated to QRM in PIC/S Annex 20.
- Sanitation and hygiene – PIC/S Part 1 has additional detail that is not covered, specifically around premises, personal hygiene and cross-contamination.
- Qualification and validation – section is outdated, there is no mention of Factory Acceptance Testing or Site Acceptance Testing, nor User Requirements Specifications. Limited details on what constitutes IQ, OQ, PQ. Details from PIC/S Annex 15 Qualification and Validation are also missing.
- Customer complaints – sparse and does not go into detail on the level of the required investigation.
- Product recall – spare, PIC/S Part 1 has much more detail on requirements in chapter 8.
- Self-inspection – does not match what is in PIC/S Part I, however, PIC/S Part I guidance is limited. For more practical guidance, the following regulations are recommended:
-
- PI 040-1 PIC/S Guidance on Classification of GMP Deficiencies
- ISO 9001: 2015Quality Management systems – Requirements, specifically section 9.2 Internal audit.
- Personnel – section does align but is missing a few crucial details, WHO GMPs also has more detail on Qualified person and batch release however this is covered more in the EU GMP Guide rather than PIC/S Part I and Annexes.
- Materials – insufficient detail around material handling, especially starting material selection and qualification of vendors as well as information from PIC/S Annex 8 Sampling of Starting and Packaging Materials.
- Quality control – section not sufficient, majority of PIC/S Part I information missing (especially around documentation, testing, tech transfer, and ongoing stability). What guidance is given does not always align. Details required from Annex 19 Reference and Retention Samples.
- Documentation – major details missing, specifically requirements in processing and packaging instructions, and the list of recommended written procedures. Batch record review also insufficient.
Want more?
PharmOut has been involved with helping countries in the past with PIC/S compliance, including non-member countries, read more read here about one of our colleagues help the Suadi Arabian health authorities.
If you would like more information or advice on compliance with PIC/S GMPs, or even to see the spreadsheets of WHO and PIC/S GMPs clause-by-clause comparison, feel free to contact us at one of our offices around the world and we will try help.
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