Aaron Tenenbaum headshot

Aaron Tenenbaum

Senior Consultant, Consulting Expert

For several years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the life sciences industry have collaborated to develop guidelines for improving quality best practices in validating computer systems and harmonizing with international standards. The FDA’s release of the CSA draft guidance should inspire organizations to adopt CSA now to streamline testing and deliver value faster while improving overall quality.

What is the CSA?

The FDA’s draft Computer Software Assurance for Manufacturing and Quality System Software (CSA) designates patient safety and product quality as the basis for risk assessment and provides mechanisms for reducing the effort of computer system validation (CSV). The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering’s (ISPE) Good Automated Manufacturing Practice (GAMP) endorsed CSA in 2020.

GAMP recently formed the Global Computer Software Assurance Special Interest Group (GAMP CSA SIG) to empower the industry to use CSA and critical thinking within the GAMP CSV paradigm and to promote local CSA discussions and harmonized global messaging. This SIG group includes the FDA and companies from the FDA/Industry CSA team.

What is a CSV?

CSV is an integral part of the software development life cycle (SDLC) in life sciences. The FDA’s regulation for applying CSV, 21CFR Part 11, was published in 1997, with the last related guidance released in 2003. Since then, life science companies have become very competent in validating computer systems, but not without a price.

The Hidden Cost of CSV: Lack of Innovation

And what’s that price, you may ask? Hampered innovation. The ever-increasing costs of time and resources for validating software have caused companies to avoid implementing new and innovative systems that could accelerate the development of quality drugs and products. The industry’s adoption of software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and the desire to move to agile development also has been hindered by the current CSV approach.

With the recent release of the draft guidance in September 2022, the FDA continues to encourage companies to innovate and digitize processes. They want companies to move away from generating burdensome test documentation, to a more efficient methodology that emphasizes critical thinking and overall quality and integrity.

The New Approach Streamlines Testing and Improves Product Quality

The CSA guidance provides a new (and preferred) way to interpret the current regulation, representing a paradigm shift to validation and the risk analysis methodology used. To reduce the validation effort, CSA shifts from testing centered on documentation toward testing based on critical thinking. It shifts from failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to risk analysis based on the impact on patient safety and product quality. The more flexible CSA methodology also supports the move to agile development.

 

Comparison of CSA and Current Validation Approach

 

Current validation

CSA

Centers on creating documentary records for compliance and securing evidence for auditors

Emphasizes critical thinking and testing to achieve higher confidence in the quality of the system

Risk is based on failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) business risk and meeting regulatory requirement Risk is based on the impact on patient safety, product quality (intended purpose), and data integrity

Validation involves testing all functionality (and potentially misses higher risk areas)

Validation is based on applying the right amount of diligence to a given level of risk to patient safety, product quality, and data integrity

Ignores previous assurance activity or related risk controls

Takes credit for prior assurance activity, risk controls, and any documentation that exits with the vendor and others
All testing is scripted

Uses unscripted and ad-hoc testing in addition to scripted testing and employs the least burdensome approach to documentation

80% of time spent on documentation / 20% time spent on testing

20% of time spent on documentation / 80% time spent on testing

 

Although the CSA guidance is designated for validating software development used for medical devices, the FDA is encouraging the life sciences industry to adopt the new approach for all life science GxP software. These include:

  • Non-Product Customized Software
  • Out-of-the-box software
  • Configurable out-of-the-box software (COTS

 

Transitioning to CSA

Transitioning to this new methodology requires understanding the guidance and learning how to apply it to your environment. It also requires acceptance and support from business, IT, validation, quality assurance at all levels, and software vendor support. Doing this in a single undertaking can be daunting. We recommend these steps to ensure a successful transition:

  1. Identify and address cultural barriers
  2. Develop and provide training for those directly and tangentially involved in validation
  3. Review and update standard operating procedures (SOPS) as required
  4. Create a transition plan that includes a pilot. Pilot projects are an effective strategy for running through the CSA methodology, allowing the company to acquire valuable metrics and assess the effectiveness of the CSA approach.

As you set out on this journey to improve innovation and quality in life sciences through transitioning to the CSA, you’ll need the support of the whole team. You can also reach out to us at CGI for additional assistance. We can help make this growth spurt as smooth as possible.

About this author

Aaron Tenenbaum headshot

Aaron Tenenbaum

Senior Consultant, Consulting Expert

Aaron is an expert in CGI’s U. S. operations life sciences sector. He has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with expertise in the installation, validation and support of quality systems. Aaron has managed GxP projects from conception through implementation. ...