PDA Letter Article

More Online Content to Help Pharma

by Rebecca Stauffer, PDA

As I write this, many in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are diligently working to develop treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 while, at the same time, efforts continue to ensure a stable supply of products to all patients. I am happy to see partnerships forming among companies, suppliers and global regulatory agencies to collaborate in this time of crisis.

PDA recognizes the industry’s need for reliable, timely information right now. For this reason, all new content on the PDA Letter site will temporarily be open access for non-PDA members as well. Feel free to forward links to newly posted content on social media and by email to your colleagues.

In addition, we want to hear from readers worldwide about how this situation is affecting you. Is your company developing a new vaccine? Do you work for a regulatory agency that has suspended inspections? What are your tips for effectively working from home? If you are interested in writing about your experience, please contact me. We plan to post these articles online following an expedited review process.

To provide another resource, we launched Episode 1 of GMP Tales, the PDA Letter podcast. Hear Steve Langille of Valsource discuss a Burkholderia cepacia contamination event he dealt with when he worked for the U.S. FDA. The podcast is available on the Letter website by clicking “Multimedia” on the top navigation bar. You can also find it on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor, Breaker, Pocket Casts and RadioPublic.

PDA staff are also working hard to bring you as much information as possible virtually. While our spring conferences and workshops have been either postponed or transformed to virtual formats, PDA is arranging to offer webinars featuring subject matter experts. Some PDA Education courses will be offered online. Check the PDA website for updates. If you are a subject matter expert interested in leading webinars and other virtual offerings, I encourage you to contact PDA.

This is a challenging time for all of us and PDA cares about the health and safety of our members. We will continue to offer expanded online offerings as the COVID-19 situation develops.