Extension of quality-by-design concept to the early development phase of pharmaceutical R&D processes

Here, we propose the extension of the quality-by-design (QbD) concept to also fit the early development phases of pharmaceuticals by adding elements that are currently widely applied, but not yet included in the QbD model in a structured way. These are the introduction of a 'zero' preformulation phase (i.e., selection of drug substance, possible dosage forms and administration routes based on the evaluated therapeutic need); building in stakeholders' (industry, patient, and regulatory) requirements into the quality target product profile (QTTP); and the use of modern quality management tools during the composition and process design phase [collecting critical quality attributes (CQAs) and selection of CPPs) for (still laboratory-scale) design space (DS) development. Moreover, during industrial scale-up, CQAs (as well as critical process parameters; CPPs) can be changed; however, we recommend that the existing QbD elements are reconsidered and updated after this phase.