Universal Study Design for Instrument Changes in Pharmaceutical Release Analytics

ABSTRACT In pharmaceutical quality control (QC), analytical methods need to maintain release analytics over decades. Over a product's lifecycle, vendors may update instrument hardware and/or software, or a switch between vendors may become necessary upon discontinuation of an instrument. Both situations pose a challenge to pharmaceutical QC.We designed an efficient instrument comparability study to gain a comprehensive understanding of potential performance differences between instruments and therefore rationalize the risk assessment and decision process for a path forward. The results may either point out whether a full or partial re‐validation is necessary or whether a science‐based update can be pursued based on the data generated in the study. The study design is universally applicable to a substantial range of release analytical methods. In a straightforward setup of two experiments with the new instrument, a statistically meaningful data set is generated for comparison with available historical or validation data of the original instrument. In a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) environment, we implemented the study design in a benchmark study comparing the ICE3 and Maurice C imaged capillary isoelectric focusing (icIEF) instruments. The core‐study confirmed equal or better performance of the Maurice C in all parameters and serves as a basis for seamless continuation of release icIEF measurements on Maurice C.