Pyrogen Detection – Understanding the Importance of Safety Testing

Synopsis

Topics:

Risk Management, GMP, Pharmaceutical Safety

Abstract:

Pyrogens are any group of substances that cause a rise in temperature in an animal or human; these substances can induce shock, fever or death. Due to the effect pyrogens can have on the body, testing for them is compulsory within the pharmaceutical industry to avoid their potential life-threatening effects.

Inadequate testing places patients at risk, therefore understanding the benefits and limitations of available test methods is a critical part of all pharmaceutical product development and manufacturing.

There are currently three approved methods for the testing of pyrogenicity; the rabbit pyrogen test (RPT), the bacterial endotoxin test (BET) and the monocyte activation test (MAT). The most common type of pyrogen are endotoxins, which can be specifically tested for using BET. There are multiple method options to be used depending on the type of product in question.

Determining which method is best suited to your pharmaceutical product can be complicated and is dependent on a number of factors including composition, presentation, and potential market.

Despite the limitations of some of the existing test methods and issues that may arise during the validation stage of this process, pyrogen testing is crucial to ensuring pharmaceutical product quality and patient safety and its importance as a quality control tool should never be overlooked.

Learning Points:

Importance of in vitro safety testing methods

Overview of pyrogen detection methods

Benefits and limitations of each method