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The Standards Zeelab Pharmacy Follows When Choosing Medicine Manufacturers

The quality of a medicine does not only depend on its formulation but also on the quality standards followed throughout the product's lifecycle. The selection of a suitable manufacturing partner is a key factor in assuring the authenticity, quality, safety and efficacy of medicines. Regulatory compliance, validated manufacturing processes, quality testing, documentation and continuous quality monitoring are important aspects that are required to be followed by the manufacturers to ensure the quality of a product.

At Zeelab Pharmacy, selection of the manufacturers is an essential part of the quality assurance of the company. The company follows a sequence of checks to ensure that the manufacturing partner is capable of producing quality medicines consistently and meets the demand for the products ethically. A structured approach can help ensure access to quality-assured medicines and keep them affordable.

The company has a large network of stores across India, with over 2,100 stores, including 250 company-owned and 1,800 shop-in-shop outlets. It aims to make quality products more affordable and reach more families as it grows.

How Does Zeelab Pharmacy Choose Manufacturers to Ensure Medicine Quality?

Choosing the right manufacturing partner is important in ensuring the quality of medicines sold by a retail supply chain such as Zeelab Pharmacy. This puts even more importance on the process of analysing and confirming the authenticity of medicines provided by the manufacturers to ensure their regulatory certifications and to make sure that the medicines reaching the customers are safe and of good quality.

Focus on Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance is one of the key factors to consider when evaluating a medicine manufacturer . Zeelab Pharmacy collaborates and prefers manufacturers who are in compliance with the applicable pharmaceutical regulations and have the required licences and certifications for medicine manufacturing.

Depending on the type of product and manufacturing facility, manufacturers must have applicable certifications and approvals. Key licences & certifications include WHO-GMP, SLA, ISO, FDA, FSSAI and HACCP.

These standards define requirements for the manufacturing process, hygiene, documentation, quality control, equipment maintenance, personnel training and record keeping. Meeting existing regulatory requirements enables the production of medicines in a controlled environment that preserves their quality, safety and uniformity.

Manufacturing Quality Standards

In addition to regulatory approvals, manufacturing quality systems are carefully considered when choosing manufacturing partners. This includes checks and verifications for clean manufacturing environments, validated production processes, calibrated equipment, appropriate environmental controls, documented standard operating procedures (SOPs), and detailed batch records.

The company also takes into account the expertise and experience in manufacturing, production facilities, ability to produce medicines, consistency in production, quality-management systems, history of compliance and quality track record.

Working with manufacturers that stick to robust manufacturing processes can help reduce batch-to-batch variability and ensure product consistency.

Quality Testing and Product Verification

Quality testing is an important part of the medicine’s production lifecycle and is used to ensure that produced medicines meet predetermined quality standards before their release. The quality testing includes assay and impurity testing of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), dissolution testing, moisture content testing, microbiological testing (where applicable) and stability testing for shelf life performance of the product.

These processes are carried out by the company systematically, starting from raw materials received in-process manufacturing to finished products, which are done to ensure that medicines always comply with the relevant quality standards.

Medicines are also independently tested for quality where applicable as part of the overall quality verification process.

Quality Checks Before Medicines Reach Consumers

Prior to medicines reaching consumers, quality checks are performed to ensure that they meet the acceptable quality standards. Post-manufacturing quality checks may involve individual batch testing, verifying the batch number, manufacturing record, packaging integrity, labelling accuracy, and storage conditions. Additionally, the independent quality testing performed by the company also involves reviewing quality documentation and regulatory compliance records. 

The verification processes contribute to the authenticity, accurate and complete labelling, and quality of the medicines supplied by Zeelab Pharmacy .

Ongoing Quality Monitoring

Choosing a particular manufacturer is not a simple one-time decision. Ongoing quality monitoring is still a significant component to achieve uniformity in medicine quality throughout shelf life.

Zeelab Pharmacy assesses its manufacturers performance periodically for quality outcomes, regulatory compliance, documentation, product consistency and conformance against quality requirements. Continual monitoring enables opportunities to learn for continuous improvement and enables long-term quality assurance.

Consistency in manufacturing batches through regular quality review and performance evaluation and confidence in the medicines supplied to consumers.

How Quality Manufacturing Supports Consumer Safety

Good manufacturing processes are an essential part of the safety, efficacy and uniformity of medicines. Medicines are kept within controlled manufacturing environments, production processes are validated, good storage conditions are maintained, processes are documented, and rigorous quality testing is performed to ensure the medicines remain within established quality specifications.

Strict manufacturing standards also minimise the risk of batch-to-batch variation and reduce the risk of medicines becoming different from one batch to another, which can compromise the quality and identity of the medicine throughout its shelf life.

If medicines are obtained from a reputable manufacturer who carries out good manufacturing practice and complies with established regulatory requirements, consumers can increase their confidence in the quality of medicines they use.

Zeelab's Quality-First Approach

Qualifying manufacturing partners is a key component of Zeelab Pharmacy's dedication to quality assurance. The company assesses manufacturers on regulatory compliance, manufacturing capacity, quality systems, product testing and performance management to ensure medicines pre-emptively meet quality standards before they are used by consumers.

As Zeelab Pharmacy aims to increase the accessibility of genuine, safe, quality-assured and affordable medicines, this quality-first approach is a testament to that commitment.