Data integrity has been a focus for pharmaceutical regulatory inspections for a number of years and look set to remain of concern to regulators and manufacturers for many years to come. Many inspection reports from regulatory agencies around the world cite data integrity as a cause of observations and enforcement action, and actions taken by regulators to restrict the commercial activities of manufacturers on the grounds of data integrity violations have obvious serious consequences for the company concerned.

This 2-day course explains the background to the data integrity regulations and sets out the expectations of pharmaceutical regulators. All the current data integrity guidances emphasise a risk-based approach to compliance, and the course explains how to evaluate and control data integrity risks. A key resource in relation to electronic records is GAMP 5, which deals with controlling risk and managing computerised systems over their life cycle. The practices recommended by GAMP 5 will be dealt with in detail, and practical advice on the appropriate use of Excel spreadsheets given. Data integrity should not be thought of as an exclusively analytical problem, and examples of data integrity violations in production will highlight the risks during manufacturing.

The course includes practical exercises which are designed to reinforce the taught component. These include data integrity risk assessments, categories of computerised data system and conducting a data integrity audit.