PDA Technical Glossary

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.

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Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL)
The quality level that is the worst-tolerable process average when a continuing series of lots are submitted for acceptance sampling. (TR43) (TR 76)
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Acceptance Limit
The maximum amount of residue allowed in a product, in an analytical sample, or as an amount per surface area. (TR29)
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Accuracy
The closeness of the actual test results obtained by the new method to the actual test results obtained by the existing method. (TR33) An analytical procedure expresses the closeness of agreement between the value that is accepted either as a conventional true value or an accepted reference value and the value found. This is sometimes termed trueness. (TR57)
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Active Systems
Systems with active temperature control (e.g., air/sea freight containers, refrigerated trucks/cars). (TR39) System with active temperature control. It makes use of electricity or fuel for the compressor to maintain temperature. Examples include refrigerated trucks, temperature-controlled ocean containers, and active ULDs. (TR58) Actively powered system that uses electricity or other fuel source to maintain a temperaturecontrolled environment inside an insulated enclosure under thermostatic regulation (e.g., cold room, refrigerator, temperature-controlled truck, refrigerated ocean or air container). (TR64) (TR72) (Synonym: Active Temperature Controlled System)
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Active Temperature Controlled System
Actively powered system that uses electricity or other fuel source to maintain a temperaturecontrolled environment inside an insulated enclosure under thermostatic regulation (e.g., cold room, refrigerator, temperature-controlled truck, refrigerated ocean or air container). (TR 72) (TR64)
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Active Unit Load Device (Active ULD)
A Unit Load Device (ULD) container used to consolidate cargo on aircraft that contains electrical or battery-powered temperature control systems for transporting temperature-sensitive materials; an RKN type is used in an FMEA example. (TR58) A unit load device with an active heating and/or cooling system that is typically used in air transportation, usually operated from externally supplied AC or DC power or from internal batteries. (TR64)
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Active Unit Load Device (ULD)
A Unit Load Device (ULD) container used to consolidate cargo on aircraft that contains electrical or battery-powered temperature control systems for transporting temperature-sensitive materials; an RKN type is used in an FMEA example. (TR58) A unit load device with an active heating and/or cooling system that is typically used in air transportation, usually operated from externally supplied AC or DC power or from internal batteries. (TR 64)
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Adverse Event (AE) Report
An AE report is a communication to the U.S. FDA of an undesirable sign or symptom associated with use of a drug as required and detailed by 21 CFR 314.80. These reports are logged into the U.S. FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS). Drug manufacturers are required to report adverse event information to FDA. These reports may also may be voluntarily submitted to the FDA directly by healthcare professionals or the general public at Med Watch. The reports are reviewed, safety issues are monitored, and data are periodically analyzed and assessed by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). (TR55)
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Adverse Trend
A series of alert-level or action-level excursions that indicates the system or areas are not in control and have the potential to affect the product quality. (TR 70) An increase in the frequency of alert- and action-level excursions or repeated recovery of low levels of microorganisms below the alert level during microbial monitoring or of pharmaceutical ingredient or finished product failure that is indicative of a loss of process control. (TR88)
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Aggregation
Clumping of proteins, viruses, or bacteria that may arise from several mechanisms and may be classified in numerous ways, including soluble/insoluble, covalent/noncovalent, reversible/irreversible, and native/denatured. (TR47)
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Air Removal Test
A test used to evaluate air removal and steam penetration in an empty sterilizer that is used for porous/hard goods load sterilization (e.g., Bowie-Dick Test, DART, Lantor Cube, Browns’ Test). (TR01) (TR 48)
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Airlock
Ambient Temperature
Amplicon
A segment of double stranded DNA formed as the product of polymerase chain reaction or other amplification based techniques such as TMA or NASBA. (TR50)
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Anaerobe
Anaerobic Microorganism
A microorganism that does not utilize oxygen as the final electron acceptor during metabolism; microorganism that will grow only in the absence of oxygen. (TR62)(TR22)
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Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
A general statistical approach to data analysis (i.e., comparison of means) in which the variation in a method’s results is partitioned among explanatory factors in order to systematically assess factor influence and/or variance components. (TR57)
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Analyte
Substance (usually a residue) for which an analysis is being performed. (TR29) (TR49) (TR70) A specific chemical moiety being measured, which can be intact drug, biomolecule or its derivative, impurity, and/or excipients in a drug product. [Synonym: measurand] (TR57)
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Analytical Control
Material used to monitor the performance of a method to assess the integrity and validity of the results. (TR57-2)
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Analytical Instrument Qualification (AIQ)
The qualification of the analytical instrument(s) used as part of the analytical procedure. (TR57)
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Analytical Method Comparability (AMC)
Equivalence study that measure the same property of two methods and that shows that replacing one of these methods with the other would not adversely affect the test’s use or results. (TR57-2)
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Analytical Method Design
Collection of activities performed to define the intended purpose of the method, select the appropriate technology to implement the method, and identify the critical method variables that need to be controlled to ensure that the method is robust and rugged. (TR57-2)
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Analytical Method Development (AMD)
Collection of activities performed to select an appropriate technique and method conditions to meet the Analytical Target Profile (ATP) requirements. (TR57-2)
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Analytical Method Transfer (AMT)
Documented process that qualifies a laboratory (receiving unit) to use an analytical test procedure that originates in another laboratory (the transferring unit, also known as the sending unit), thus ensuring that the receiving unit has the knowledge and ability to perform the transferred analytical procedure as intended. (TR57-2)
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Analytical Platform Technology (APT)
An analytical method that is used for multiple products and/or types of sample matrix without modification of the procedure. Similar to compendial methods, an APT method may not require full validation for each new product or sample type. (TR57)
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Analytical Procedure
That which is performed in order to obtain a reportable result. The procedure should describe in detail the steps necessary to perform the analytical test. This may include but is not limited to: the sample, the reference standard and the reagents preparations, use of the apparatus, generations of the calibration curve, use of the formulae for the calculation [Synonym: Method, Assay] (TR57)
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Ancillary Packaging Components/Systems
Additional means used in combination with the basic transportation unit to maintain the required temperature during transport. Examples include active systems and passive systems. (TR39)
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Animal-Derived Raw Materials (Primary)
Contains in the final raw material or uses in the manufacturing process of the final raw material, any raw material derived directly from bovine or other animal tissues, for example, bovine serum, porcine-derived trypsin, and animal-tissue-de­rived hydrolysates. (TR83)
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Archival (MHRA )
A designated secure area or facility (e.g., cabinet, room, building or computerised system) for the long-term retention of data and metadata for the purposes of verification of the process or activity.(TR80)
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Aseptic Processing Simulation (APS)
Assess the Effects of the Change
To evaluate the effects of a manufacturing change on the identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency of a drug product as those factors may relate to the safety or effectiveness of the drug product. (TR38)
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Attribute
A physical, chemical, or microbiological property or characteristic of an input or output material. (TR60)
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Attribute Sampling
Inspection where either the unit of product is classified as conforming or non-conforming or the number of non-conformities in the unit of products is counted with respect to a given requirement of set of requirements. (TR43)
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Attributes (Process Performance Attribute)
An output variable or outcome that cannot be directly controlled, but is an indicator that the process performed as expected.(Synonym - Process Performance Parameter) (TR60)
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Attributes (Quality Attribute)
A molecular or product characteristic that is selected for its ability to indicate the quality of the product. Collectively, the quality attributes define identity, purity, potency and stability of the product, and safety with respect to adventitious agents. Specifications measure a selected subset of the quality attributes. (TR60)
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Audit Trail (WHO)
The audit trail is a form of metadata that contains information associated with actions that relate to the creation, modification or deletion of GXP records. An audit trail provides for secure recording of life-cycle details such as creation, additions, deletions, or alterations of information in a record, either paper or electronic, without obscuring or overwriting the original record.(TR80)
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Audit Trail Review Assessment (ATRA)
A tool that can be used to help determine what elements within the audit trail should be reviewed, and the frequency at which the review should take place for each part of the audit trail where a review is required.
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Backup (MHRA)
A copy of current (editable) data, metadata and system configuration settings maintained for recovery including disaster recovery.(TR80)
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Backup (WHO)
A copy of one or more electronic files created as an alternative in case the original data or system are lost or become unusable. Backup differs from archival in that back-up copies of electronic records are typically only temporarily stored for the purposes of disaster recovery and may be periodically overwritten. Such temporary back-up copies should not be relied upon as an archival mechanism.(TR80)
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Bias
A systematic difference in a method that manifests itself as a deviation of the method mean from an expected value. (TR57) Total systematic error, in contrast to random error. Measurement centered on the true result is said to be unbiased or have no systematic error. The distance between the center of a large (infinite) number of measurements and the correct value is the bias. (TR 57-2)
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Bioanalytical Test Method
A method used to assess the presence of analytes (chemical or biological) in biological samples (e.g., serum, plasma, etc.). (TR57)
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Bioassay
Analysis (as of a drug) to quantify the biological activity(ies) of one or more components by determining its capacity for producing an expected biological activity. (TR57)
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Bioburden
The total number of microorganisms per unit of material prior to sterilization. (TR13) Total number of viable microorganisms on or in a health care product prior to sterilization. (TR22)(TR61)(TR62) A population of viable microorganisms in a fluid prior to sterilizing filtration. (TR26) A measure of the contaminating organisms found in or on a given amount of material before it undergoes a sterilization process. (TR45) (TR70) The number of detectable microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) with which an object is contaminated. It is measured in CFU (colony forming units). (TR47) The number of viable, contaminating microorganisms present on a product immediately prior to decontamination. (TR51) Viable microbial contaminants associated with personnel manufacturing environments (air and surfaces), equipment, product packaging, raw materials (including water), in-process materials, and finished products. (TR 67) (TR 69)
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Biofouling (or Biological Fouling)
Accumulation and subsequent deleterious effects of biological contaminants on engineered products or processes (TR 69)
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Biological Activity
Property that describes the specific ability or capacity of a product to achieve a defined biological effect. (TR57)
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Biological Indicator (BI)
An inoculated carrier contained within its primary pack ready for use and providing a defined resistance to the specified sterilization process. (TR51)
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Biological Qualification
A component of performance qualification that demonstrates, by use of biological indicators, that the required lethality (FBIO) is achieved consistently throughout the load. (TR1) (TR3) (TR30) A component of performance qualification that demonstrates, by use of biological indicators, that the required lethality (FBIO) or spore log reduction (SLR) is achieved consistently throughout the sterilized or sanitized portion of the SIP system. (TR61)
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Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC)
An enclosed, ventilated workspace with engineering controls designed to remove or minimize exposure to hazardous biological materials. A BSC is a principle device to provide containment of infectious splashes or aerosols generated by many microbiological procedures. BSCs are designed to provide personnel, environmental and product protection when appropriate practices and procedures are followed. A cabinet that is designed to protect the operator and the environment from the hazards of handling infected material and other dangerous biological. (TR62)
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Biological Tests
Biological tests include animal, cell culture, or biochemical based testing that measures a biological, biochemical, or physiological response. (TR38)
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Biomethylation
The enzyme chlorophenol o-methyltransferase responsible for fungal methylation has been isolated in cell-free extracts. Biomethylation, in this context, may be seen as a detoxification mechanism, although it plays a role in the production of mycotoxins by secondary metabolism. Slightly xerophilic fungi frequently associated halophenol biomethylation include Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma virgatum, Aspergillus sydowii, and Penicillium islandicum. (TR55)
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