Beckman Coulter Life Sciences helps labs comply with Annex 1 regulation deadline

Aug 20, 2023

By Heather Hall | July 26, 2023

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, a provider of laboratory automation and innovation, continues its commitment to providing laboratories of all sizes with individualized and tailored support to meet the evolving list of regional and global compliance requirements.

Cleanroom laboratories manufacturing sterile medicinal products in the European Union (EU) must make critical changes by August 25, 2023, to ensure Annex 1 Regulation compliance. This is a substantial update to the initial version released in 2008 and provides comprehensive guidance for manufacturers, including the design and control of facilities, equipment, systems, and procedures used for the manufacture of all sterile products to ensure that microbial, particulate, and endotoxin/pyrogen contamination is prevented.

“At 58 pages and 293 paragraphs, we understand laboratory professionals have questions about this updated and broad regulation,” said Anurag Tandon, global vice president of quality control and bio-manufacturing. “This new era of compliance will raise questions, and we are committed to working with laboratories of all sizes to clarify and provide answers to complex questions as we continue to lead the way in providing resources and consultations for laboratories to ensure a seamless compliance transition.”

Key focus areas in the revised regulation include applying the principles of Quality Risk Management (QRM), ensuring continuous environmental monitoring, online total organic carbon (TOC) monitoring, and an increased emphasis on the importance of having a robust Contamination Control Strategy (CCS) in place. The classification of cleanrooms and environmental monitoring is also increasingly important throughout the update.

“Solutions from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences for analyzing total organic carbon, environmental monitoring, and particle counting are used every day around the world to help ensure quality and safety in diverse applications,” said Tandon. “We share a name with measurement principles that drive particle counting and characterization technology — The Coulter Principle — and are a trusted resource for instruments delivering critical data to researchers, formulation development scientists, and GMP-regulated quality control departments around the world.”

MET ONE 3400+ Series portable air particle counters from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences enable labs to monitor air cleanliness in compliance with EU GMP Annex 1 Regulation, ISO 14644, and FDA CGMP, with features that include plug-and-play networking and customized electronic SOP maps.

Annex 1 Regulation also includes a focus on utilities, including water systems. The ANATEL PAT700 TOC analyzer is specifically designed to help demonstrate compliance with the pharmacopeial requirements for TOC and conductivity for purified water and Water for Injection (WFI) systems.

From analyzing TOC to particle counting and characterization, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is available to help with resources and in-person or virtual consultations; click here for more information.