Date: March, 2024 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Hana Trokic

Why does pharma need document comparison software for their regulatory proofreading?

For pharmaceutical companies, keeping documentation compliant with regulations is a top priority. From regulatory submissions to drug labels, promotional materials, and more, every piece of critical content must be meticulously proofread to ensure it adheres to strict regulations and is free from all errors. 

To ensure this level of accuracy and compliance, proofreading teams in pharma turn to technology, more specifically document comparison software, to help with their regulatory content revisions.

Keep reading to discover the top reasons why pharma needs document comparison software for regulatory proofreading and see why pharmaceutical companies are already turning to the software to proofread their regulatory documentation and to ensure the accuracy and compliance of their critical content.

1. Mitigates Risk Through Accuracy

Above all, ensuring the accuracy of pharmaceutical documentation is a top priority due to the severe consequences that errors can lead to, including regulatory fines, product recalls, and risks to consumers.

Document comparison software plays a vital role in enhancing pharma documentation accuracy by inspecting and detecting deviations in critical content such as regulatory submissions, labels, packaging files, batch records, standard operating procedures, marketing materials, and more. 

By automating revision tasks, the software eliminates the need for error-prone manual checks, which often result in inaccuracies and oversights. Document comparison software provides a detailed overview of differences in files, easing proofreading processes by enabling teams to catch discrepancies early in the process and minimizing the risk of error.  

This proactive approach not only ensures the accuracy of documentation, it also helps mitigate the risk of potential regulatory issues, product recalls, or legal actions stemming from documentation errors. This ultimately ensures compliance with government agencies and health authorities and proves why pharma needs document comparison software for their regulatory proofreading. 

“Accurate, precise, and efficient for label inspections. […] The software is a critical part of our inspection process. It provides what is expected upon using it by minimizing human inspection errors, improved efficiency, and customizable inspection reports that fits the situation.”

• Corey Burgauer, Regulatory Technician, International Labels 

2. Increases Confidence in Compliance

Pharmaceutical companies need to navigate the complexities of ever-evolving compliance standards, regulations, and guidelines. Because of this, proofreading teams in the pharmaceutical industry are tasked with reviewing critical content that must adhere to stringent regulations.

Document comparison software plays a vital role in ensuring pharmaceutical companies’ confidence in regulatory compliance by thoroughly comparing document versions to an approved file and highlighting all differences to ensure that only the intended changes were made while no unintended changes were introduced. This can be especially helpful to automate for critical documents such as Drug Master Files (DMFs), fostering confidence that it remains compliant throughout the drug development lifecycle.

The software helps identify discrepancies allowing teams to make corrections and adjustments with ease, and ensures adherence to regulatory standards set by authorities like the FDA, EMA, MHRA, and beyond. 

“Even if you have a comma missing [the Regulatory Authority] ask us to repackage the product. [GlobalVision] saves us a lot of headaches and we avoid the costs of recalls.”

• Slava Krauklis, Deputy General Manager (Quality), Generium Pharmaceuticals

3. Speeds Up Product Time-to-Market

Without the use of technology, pharmaceutical companies are forced to conduct manual checks of their lengthy and extremely technical regulatory documents. This is not only error-prone but it is also filled with bottlenecks that slow down proofreading processes and ultimately slow down time-to-market. Document comparison software allows for the complete automation of these processes, significantly reducing the time and effort required for proofreading. 

By significantly reducing the time required to proofread critical documentation, the entire product lifecycle is sped-up allowing pharmaceutical companies to bring often life-saving drugs and medical devices to market faster without compromising on their quality.

“GlobalVision has been vital in artwork development as it helps pick up the tiniest of errors and differences both within text and graphics. It also saves so much time by not having to do manual proofreading.”

• Praenisha Ramnath, Pharmacovigilance & Compliance Manager, iNova Pharmaceuticals

4. Enables Global Scalability

As pharmaceutical companies expand their product portfolios and global reach, scalability becomes a critical factor. Document comparison software is created to scale with growing business needs, ensuring that proofreading processes remain efficient and effective as companies expand on the global market.

The software, for example, offers a text comparison feature which has automatic language detection and works on all global languages, including right-to-left languages, and can also inspect different scripts, including Arabic, Hebrew, Asian characters, and more. This is crucial for any global pharmaceutical company that deals with critical documentation in several languages and needs to ensure the accuracy of their translations and files. 

The software can also be leveraged by global corporations who want to work in their native tongues by having the ability to change the UI in any available language of their choice. Users have the freedom to change the login and main page in languages they feel most comfortable working in for an ever more comfortable and seamless proofreading experience.  

“[GlobalVision] makes the entire process more streamlined and allows us to deal with foreign languages and very small font changes”

• Imran Masood, Quality Specialist and Labs Head at Unilever – Dubai Personal Care Factory

5. Enhances Team Collaboration

Document comparison software significantly enhances team collaboration in pharmaceutical companies by streamlining the process of reviewing critical documents. 

With the software, team members can easily identify any changes made to documents, facilitating seamless collaboration on shared files. By providing a clear visual representation of differences between document versions, it minimizes misunderstandings and miscommunications, ensuring that every team is aware of the corrections made to a document and that they are working on a single version. 

Moreover, the ability to track changes and maintain version control ensures that all stakeholders have access to the most up-to-date information, leading to more informed decision-making and higher-quality outputs. 

“GlobalVision has allowed our group to be more efficient […] It is extremely beneficial to be able to put your documents into the software and within a very short amount of time be able to run a report on any differences found.”

• Jan Meyers, Global Labeling Sr. Specialist, Regulatory Affairs, Bristol Myers-Squibb

6. Increases Resource and Cost Savings

Automating the process of proofreading critical documentation reduces the need for manual reviews, saving valuable time and labor resources. 

Manual proofreading is labor-intensive, often requiring a team of skilled professional proofreaders to meticulously review documents. The added cost of employing skilled labor for proofreading tasks can quickly add up, especially for large or ongoing projects. Manual processes are also extremely time-consuming often taking hours or even days, depending on the length and complexity of a piece of content. 

This delay in revision times can also lead to delays in product launches resulting in companies losing competitive market positioning and losing profits to faster competitors.

Document comparison software, however, enables the automation of proofreading tasks as the software comprehensively inspects and identifies errors in a fraction of the time by a single individual or small team, significantly speeding up proofreading times and reducing labor and resource costs involved.

Additionally, the software’s intuitive interface makes it easy to use, reducing the need for extensive training and support resources. As a result, pharmaceutical companies can optimize their workflows, allocate resources more effectively, and ultimately reduce operational costs associated with proofreading. 

7. Offers Continuous Technological Innovation

Document comparison software such as GlobalVision is at the forefront of technological innovation, continuously striving to enhance its capabilities and stay ahead of evolving industry needs. 

Through regular updates and feature enhancements, the software incorporates the latest advancements in document comparison technology for pharmaceuticals and regulated industries, ensuring that users have access to cutting-edge tools for their proofreading needs. 

Most recently, GlobalVision’s cloud-based proofreading software, Verify, has started leveraging machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence with their OCR feature, providing the newest features and capabilities for pharmaceutical companies looking to automate their proofreading, even on rasterized or flattened documents. 

The constant innovation that is being put into Verify allows it to offer increasingly accurate results, minimizing false positives, and overall enhancing the productivity of proofreading teams in regulated industries. 

Moreover, for pharmaceutical companies, innovation and adopting the latest technologies serves as a critical competitive advantage on today’s fast-paced markets. Companies that leverage modern solutions, like document comparison software, can significantly outpace competitors who continue to use outdated methods that do not solve the bottlenecks in their processes. 

By prioritizing innovation, GlobalVision empowers pharmaceutical companies to stay competitive in a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, offering a reliable solution that evolves alongside technological advancements and industry standards and further proves why pharma needs document comparison software for their regulatory proofreading. 

“We’ve caught numerous mistakes, which has saved the company thousands of dollars over the years that we’ve been using GlobalVision. It’s a tool that I don’t know how we did without it. It’s become a tool that we use every day now.”

• Vince Costanza, Phoenix Lithographing Corporation President 

Why Pharma Needs Document Comparison Software for Regulatory Proofreading

By continuously innovating and integrating cutting-edge technology, document comparison software allows pharmaceutical companies to stay ahead of industry needs, providing them with a reliable solution that evolves with the ever-changing regulatory landscape. 

It not only sets a new benchmark for proofreading in pharmaceuticals, bringing with it unmatched speed and accuracy, it also contributes to the industry’s main goal of delivering safe and compliant medical products to consumers worldwide. 

To begin exploring and leveraging this cutting-edge technology, book a demo of Verify and see firsthand the transformative impact it will have on your pharmaceutical proofreading and quality control processes.

Also, read our Pharmaceutical Industry Report to get exclusive insight into the growing role of technology in regulatory affairs and see how other top industry leaders are leveraging this technology to help them achieve their business goals.