PDA Technical Glossary

PDA Technical Reports are highly valued membership benefits because they offer expert guidance and opinions on important scientific and regulatory topics and are used as essential references by industry and regulatory authorities around the world. These reports include terms which explain the material and enhance the reader’s understanding.

The database presented here includes the glossary terms from all current technical reports. The database is searchable by keyword, topic, or by technical report. Each definition provided includes a link to the source technical report within the  PDA Technical Report Portal.

(Please select "All" to restart a filtered Search)

  • All
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
Potential Drug Shortage
A potential drug shortage is described as the occurrence of internal or external situations (single or in a combination of both), which could result in an interruption of supplies of a medicinal product, if not properly addressed and controlled. (TR68)

Source:

Value Stream Map
A tool used to document, analyze, understand and improve the flow of information or materials required to produce a product or service for a customer as it makes its way through the value stream. (TR68)

Source:

Ready-To-Use
A marketing term often used to describe the benefits of single-use technology or SUS. This designation has no regulatory or scientific basis supporting suitability for use and the end user is responsible to evaluate and determine if appropriate quality requirements are met for their application. (TR66) Washed and sterilized components supplied in a package suitable for transfer into an aseptic processing area and used with sterile injectable products without further processing. (TR85)

Source:

Risk
The combination of the probability of occurrence of harm and the severity of that harm.(TR30) (TR44) (TR54) (TR54-2) (TR54-4) (TR58) (TR67) (TR68) (TR88)

Source:

Risk Priority Level
A relative priority ranking assigned to a risk based on a combination of a) therapeutic use of a product and patient impact due to product unavailability, b) availability of alternatives, and c) likelihood of a shortage. (TR68)

Source:

Risk-based Triage for Drug Shortages
A process of assessing and assigning priorities for managing drug shortage risks based on criticality and impact to patients (TR68)

Source:

Quality Risk Management (QRM)
A systematic process for the assessment, control, communication, and review of risk to the quality of the drug product across the product lifecycle.(TR43)(TR54-2)(TR54-3)(TR57)(TR67)(TR68) Documentation to prove that an installation/ equipment/process is designed and/or tested according to predefined specifications. Documentation may include Design Qualification (DQ), Installation Qualification (IQ), Operational Qualification (OQ) and Performance Qualification (PQ).(TR58) A systematic process for the assessment, control, communication, and review of risks to the quality of the drug (medicinal) product across the product lifecycle.(TR 54-5)(TR 76)(TR88)

Source:

Meaningful Disruption
A meaningful disruption is a change in production that is reasonably likely to lead to a reduction in the supply of a drug by a manufacturer that is more than negligible and affects the ability of the manufacturer to fill orders or meet expected demand for its product. A meaningful disruption is not an interruption in manufacturing due to matters such as routine maintenance and does not include insignificant changes in manufacturing so long as the manufacturer expects to resume operations in a short period of time. (TR68)

Source:

Medically Necessary Drug
Any drug product used to diagnose, treat, or prevent a serious disease or medical condition for which no other drug is judged to be an appropriate substitute or there is an inadequate supply of an acceptable alternative as determined by the relevant health authority. (TR68)

Source:

Knowledge Management
Systematic approach to acquiring, analyzing, storing, and disseminating information related to products, manufacturing processes and components (ICH Q10). (TR54) (TR68) (TR54-5)

Source:

Life Supporting or Life Sustaining Drug
Life supporting or life sustaining is used to describe a product that is essential to, or that yields information that is essential to, the restoration or continuation of a bodily function that is important to the continuation of human life. (TR68)

Source:

Harm
Damage to health, including damage occurring from loss of product quality or availability. (TR44) (TR54) (TR54-2) (TR54-4) (TR68)

Source:

Drug Shortage Prevention & Response Plan
A document that provides a structured action plan to proactively prevent drug shortages and also respond to a shortage in the event that one occurs. (TR68)

Source:

Drug Shortage Risk Register
A single source of information on risks that can result in drug shortages, associated risk levels, risk control actions with owners, status, due dates and residual risk after appropriate risk control actions have been taken. (TR68)

Source:

Criticality
A classification of an item (e.g., process, equipment, parameter) that expresses the significance given to the impact of that item, and should therefore be controlled or monitored to ensure product quality, safety or efficacy. (TR54) A classification of an item (e.g., product, process, equipment, parameter) that expresses the significance given to the impact of that item, and should therefore be controlled or monitored to ensure product quality, safety or efficacy. (TR68)

Source: