The 44th Annual Meeting of the College of Industry (RACI), organized by the Council of the Pharmaceutical Industry Speciality College of the Order of Pharmacists (CCEIF-OF), took place in Braga under the theme “Pharma Industry Value Creation: Adjusting Today, Enabling Tomorrow”. The event addressed changes in European regulation, the control of complex supply chains, and innovation in drug manufacturing.
Batch certification and the responsibilities of the Qualified Person (QP) were central themes. In the context of reviewing European rules, challenges in ensuring the quality and integrity of medicines throughout supply chains were discussed. INFARMED presented an assessment of the application of Annex 21 of Good Manufacturing Practices regarding drug importation, and the supervision of contract manufacturing activities was debated. A Master Class on aseptic process simulation, led by Ana Paula Gageiro, delved into evaluating the control of sterile drug manufacturing operations.
Regulatory updates dominated the second day's morning session, with an analysis of changes in Good Manufacturing Practices annexes: Annex 11 (computerized systems), Annex 22 (artificial intelligence), and Annex 19 (reference and retention samples). The afternoon was dedicated to the future of production, with Álvaro Goyanes presenting work on 3D drug printing, followed by sessions on automated factories and tablet development.
On the final day, Faidra Angelikaki presented a case study on Qualified Person decision-making. The award for best scientific poster went to a team from Bluepharma Indústria Farmacêutica, SA, for their work "Data Warehouse as a Foundation for Continuous Process Verification (CPV): A Bluepharma Case Study”.
In the closing session, José Vera-Cruz, president of CCEIF-OF, and Dario Bastos Martins, vice-president of the Order of Pharmacists, emphasized the importance of experience sharing and pharmaceutical intervention in the industry. RACI is a key meeting for pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industry in Portugal, accredited with 0.6 Continuing Professional Development Credits.
