RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Comparison of Acid Titration, Conductivity, Flame Photometry, ICP-MS, and Accelerated Lamellae Formation Techniques in Determining Glass Vial Quality JF PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology JO PDA J Pharm Sci Technol FD Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) SP pdajpst.2015.006056 DO 10.5731/pdajpst.2015.006056 A1 Fujimori, Kiyoshi A1 Lee, Hans A1 Sloey, Christopher A1 Ricci, Margaret S. A1 Wen, Zai-Qing A1 Philips, Joseph A1 Nashed-Samuel, Yasser YR 2016 UL http://journal.pda.org/content/early/2016/04/13/pdajpst.2015.006056.abstract AB Certain types of glass vials used as primary containers for liquid formulations of biopharmaceutical drug products have been observed with glass flake like delamination or 'lamellae' under certain conditions during storage. The cause of this delamination is in part related to the glass surface defects, which renders the vials susceptible to flaking, and are formed during the high temperature melting and annealing used for vial fabrication and shaping. Current European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) method to assess glass vial quality utilizes acid titration of vial extract pools to determine hydrolytic resistance or alkalinity. Four alternative techniques with improved throughput, convenience, and/or comprehension were examined by subjecting seven lots of vials to analysis by all techniques. The first three new techniques of conductivity, flame photometry, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measured the same sample pools as acid titration. All three showed good correlation with alkalinity; conductivity (R2=0.9951), flame photometry sodium (R2=0.9895), and several elements by ICP-MS [(sodium (R2=0.9869), boron (R2=0.9796), silicon (R2=0.9426), total (R2=0.9639)]. The fourth technique processed the vials under conditions that promote delamination, termed the Accelerated Lamellae Formation (ALF), and then inspected those vials visually for lamellae. The visual inspection results without the lot with different processing condition correlated well with alkalinity (R2=0.9474). Due to vial processing differences affecting alkalinity measurements and delamination propensity differently, ratio of silicon and sodium measurements from ICP-MS was the most informative technique to assess overall vial quality and vial propensity for lamellae formation. The other techniques of conductivity, flame photometry, and ALF condition may still be suitable for routine screening of vial lots produced under consistent processes.