Saturday, November 17, 2012

Ohio Board of Pharmacy Discusses Basic Differences Between Manufacturing and Compounding Under Its Rules

Manufacturing Versus Compounding: 
Basic Differences
Manufacturing and compounding are two very different 
practices that are regulated differently as well. Ohio recognizes and 
enforces federal law that states compounding 
is performed by a pharmacist in a pharmacy and pursuant to a 
patient-specific prescription (refer to 21 USCA 
353a). Manufacturing does not require a patient-specific 
prescription, but requires a manufacturing license from
FDA that enables the company to produce and sell manufactured medications 
(typically in bulk) again without a 
patient-specific prescription. To obtain an FDA manufacturing license, 
the manufacturing site must also pass 
stringent quality assurance standards (good manufacturing practice) 
designed to test manufacturing of sterile 
drug product. Thus, there is much more scrutiny placed 
on this type of practice (manufacturing) typically due to 
the large amounts of drug product being made for resale. 
Medication compounding, on the other hand, involves 
the practice of taking commercially available products 
and modifying them to meet the unique needs of an individual
 patient pursuant to a prescription from a licensed 
provider. Our state law defines compounding in Ohio 
Revised Code 4729.01(C). Also, a pharmacy must follow 
the compounding requirements pursuant to Ohio Administrative Code 
(OAC) Rules 4729-5-25, 4729-9-25, 4729-
9-21, and 4729-19; current professional compounding 
standards; and all applicable federal and state laws, rules, 
and regulations. As required by OAC 4729-19-04, for 
compounding sterile injectables, the Board would expect 
to see in your written policies and procedures adherence 
to United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Chapter 797 guidelines. 
These guidelines are differentiated by the severity/
risk of the type of products being compounded. The Board 
expects that you review and understand these guidelines 
to assess your practice prior to compounding sterile injectable
 prescriptions. For more information regarding 
the USP Chapter 797 compounding guidelines, visit www
.usp.org/store/products-services/usp-compounding. 
Compounding in Ohio does not require a special FDA 
manufacturing license and can be performed with no 
extra licenses other than those required by the Board 
for pharmacy practice (RPh license for the pharmacist 
to practice, a terminal distributor of dangerous drugs 
license for the location, and, if needed, a Drug Enforcement 
Administration license for controlled substances). 
No doubt, compounding is a legal and common practice 
in many Ohio pharmacies and brings incredible value to 
Ohio patients. However, make sure that your processes 
meet all standards for compounding and that you are not 
manufacturing as defined above. The Board has created 
a great compounding document for review, which can be 
accessed from the Board’s Web site at www.pharmacy
.ohio.gov. Click on the “Terminal Distributor (TDDD) Licenses”
 tab and then on the “Compounding in Ohio” link. 
Source found here

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