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Nitrosamine Contamination
As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, you need to know whether your products contain nitrosamine impurities and, if so, whether they are below the thresholds established by various regulatory agencies.
Nitrosamine impurities can be introduced at any stage in the supply chain, during manufacturing, or as leachables from packaging and storage.
Nitrosamines are highly toxic compounds, and some are considered even more carcinogenic than currently established thresholds suggest and are subject to strict regulations in both the EU and the US.
At SAXOCON, we have the expertise and services to help you to fill in the gaps in your supply chain information, and test and assess your manufacturing, packaging, and storage processes for the presence of nitrosamines and how they impact your drug substances and products.
Check out how we can help here.
ISO 10993-17 Development
We are very proud that our CTO, Carsten Senholt, has a central role in the international writing group developing ISO 10993-17, which was recently submitted as a final draft.
The ISO 10993 series is a suite of standards covering the biological evaluation of medical devices. The newly revised part 17 now covers the toxicological risk assessment of medical device constituents.
This work started over seven years ago and, compared to the 2002 edition, is a fundamental update on how to conduct toxicological risk assessments of medical devices.
We have already implemented this new approach into our processes via our ISO 13485-certified quality management system.
We can help you keep up with the changing world of medical device guidelines.
Read more about how we can help here.
Medical Device QMS
The EU is conditionally extending the MDR deadline. If you are a medical device manufacturer with a certificate approved before 26 May 2021, you can extend its validity if your product meets the set conditions. One of these conditions is establishing an MDR-compliant quality management system.
As a company, SAXOCON is ISO 13485 certified. We also have BSI-certified ISO 13485 internal auditors who can help you get your QMS up and running, allowing you to keep your current certification and prepare for the coming MDR changes.
Read more to see how we can help you navigate this complex regulatory maze.
ISO 13485 and MDR
According to EU Regulation (EC) 2017/745 (MDR) and US 21 CFR 820 covering medical devices, manufacturers must demonstrate that the selected critical suppliers, contractors, and consultants meet all specified requirements, including quality requirements. These regulations hold manufacturers fully responsible for all outsourced processes. Fulfilling this obligation requires understanding and monitoring every aspect of the supply chain, including the materials used, the impacts manufacturing processes can have on final products, and whether any impurities found in the materials used can affect end users. The state-of-the-art for medical devices in the EU and US is to adhere to the ISO 13485:2016 quality management systems standard.
SAXOCON is an ISO 13485:2016 certified toxicological service supplier.
As a manufacturer, having confidence in your suppliers lets you focus on your manufacturing processes and getting your products approved and ready for market as quickly as possible. Since 2021, SAXOCON has been ISO 13485:2016 certified, allowing us to serve as a critical supplier of toxicological evaluation services. Our quality management system ensures we have the right resources, competencies, procedures, and processes to provide consistent and quality-controlled services. Using us as a supplier of high-quality toxicological services gives you peace of mind and one less thing to worry about at your next audit.
Obtaining ISO certification is not a one-off event; it requires regular audits by BSI. We are committed to continually investing in developing and improving our quality management system.
Learn more about how our certified services can support your business here.
In Silico and the FDA
The FDA modernization act to end animal testing has now passed the US Senate. This change nullifies the old mandate requiring animal testing of all new drugs, thereby increasing the acceptance and use of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) and read-across (RAX) methods for toxicity testing. In-silico methods reduce the need for animal testing, which not only benefits the animals, but these methods are also more accurate in estimating the toxicity of products/ingredients to humans.
SAXOCON welcomes this focus on enhancing animal well-being while maintaining high standards for determining the safety of chemical compounds. These new methods are the future of toxicological risk assessment, a future we have been at the forefront of for over eight years.
At SAXOCON, we have extensive experience with in-silico toxicity testing and can help you ensure your products are safe and compliant on either side of the Atlantic.
Future-proof your development processes with our cutting-edge modelling and let our experts guide you to the best strategy for using New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).
Contact us for more information.
Read more about our services here:
Medical Devices
Pharmaceuticals
Chemicals
Nitrosamines
Are you a pharmaceutical manufacturer? Do you know whether your products contain nitrosamine impurities and, if so, whether they are below the thresholds established by the various regulatory agencies?
SAXOCON has the expertise and services necessary to help you to fill in the gaps in your supply chain information and assess the impact on your drug substances and products.
Nitrosamines are highly toxic compounds. Some are considered to be even more carcinogenic than currently established thresholds and are subject to strict regulations in both the EU and the US.
Check out how we can help here.
SAXOCON and GARD®
We now offer access to the GARD® technology platform, a second generation of in vitro assays for skin sensitization testing based on genomics and machine learning.
The GARD® technology platform, developed by SenzaGen AB, is intended to gradually replace all animal-based testing components with human equivalents, enabling truly animal-free skin sensitization testing, benefitting animal welfare and human health.
From a regulatory perspective, GARD® skin sensitization testing conforms with ISO 10993 standards and is the first and only non-animal OECD-approved test for assessing the allergenicity of chemicals based on genomics and machine learning.
A better understanding of the biological mechanism that causes skin sensitization has led to significant progress in developing and the regulatory implementation of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for this endpoint. These methodologies include computational models and cell/tissue in vitro-based assays. In addition to not testing on living animals, NAMs also have the benefit of generating more human-relevant information.
At its core, the GARD® technology platform uses an analysis of a human cell’s total response when exposed to different substances and has four key elements:
- a biological cell system based on a human dendritic-like cell line, mimicking critical parts of the immune system and recognizing allergens
- a dataset for biomarker discovery and subsequent machine learning training
- a gene expression pattern to establish a genomic biomarker signature
- a prediction model to perform future classification of the test chemicals
These four elements are key to improved accuracy and human relevance, as they combine the simplicity of in vitro methods and the biological intricacy of in vivo models.
Find out how we can help you here.
MDR and Biological Safety
Complying with EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) is not optional. If you are a manufacturer, authorised representative or distributor of medical devices, you will need to ensure compliance with EU MDR.
Non-compliance with biological safety requirements can result in costly delays when designing, developing or selling a medical device. SAXOCON provides you with everything you need to plan, test, and document compliance with regulatory requirements and ensure the biological safety of your medical device products.
The General Safety and Performance Requirements (GSPR) checklist is a mandatory document all medical device manufacturers must complete prior to an MDR audit. SAXOCON has the expertise to help you comply with paragraphs 10 and 11 from CHAPTER II, REQUIREMENTS REGARDING DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE, of this checklist.
Putting processes into place that ensure quality and safety throughout your supply chain allows you to confidently engage with notified bodies, knowing that you are in compliance or can easily become compliant with the (EC) 2017/745 (MDR) regulation.
SAXOCON is ISO 13485 certified, which means that we can serve as an approved critical supplier and help you minimise the headaches associated with regulatory compliance.
Read more about how we can help you here.
Congrats to the 2022 Danish Tech Challenge Participants
As a member of the DTU family, we would like to congratulate the 19 participants in the 2022 Danish Tech Challenge, Denmark’s leading accelerator for hardware start-ups, at the DTU Science Park Futurebox incubator.
At SAXOCON, we specialise in in-silico toxicological testing, risk assessment, and regulatory documentation for pharmaceutical products and medical devices.
Check out what we can do for you here, or contact us directly at sales@saxocon.com for more information.
On-site Aerosol Sampling
Exposure to aerosols can negatively affect health.
Using our SAXOCON Impactor tool, we can determine what is in the air at your workplace, if there are any risks, and how to mitigate potential problems.
We designed and built the SAXOCON Impactor to be a highly efficient, multi-stage impactor that collects airborne particles (down to the nanoscale) for analysis.
Our impactor is intended for on-site use and quickly collects the necessary samples. After collection, you return the impactor to us for an analysis of the collected particles to determine the distribution and concentration of sizes, whereafter our toxicologists establish their level of toxicity.
Gain some understanding about what is in the air you breathe and how it affects workplace safety.
Read more about how we can help you here.
GAeF Membership
Our CSO, Kirsten Inga Kling, has joined GAeF (Gesellschaft für Aerosolforschung e.V.) as a supporting member. We look forward to contributing to the discussion, learning, and sharing knowledge with other experts in aerosol research.
Check out our analytics services here.
Celebrating Arla’s BLG Novel Food Application Success
SAXOCON congratulates Arla Foods Ingredients on the positive EFSA opinion regarding their novel food application for Lacroprodan® BLG-100. We are proud that our contribution helped get the application over the finish line and look forward to Arla receiving full EU approval for BLG later this year.
Read more about Arla Foods Ingredients’ announcement here.
If you are developing a novel food and need help to ensure compliance with EU and FDA requirements, check out how SAXOCON can help you here.