{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T17:07:30Z","timestamp":1788973650907,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773014400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The distribution of low-quality medications poses a serious risk to public health, especially in underdeveloped nations like Ethiopia. Ineffective use of Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) increases these dangers, which include cross-contamination, mix-ups, and incorrect labeling. To ensure consistent product quality and adherence to set standards, a Pharmaceutical Quality System (PQS) that effectively integrate cGMP is essential. Assessing cGMP compliance is essential for the reliable production of safe pharmaceuticals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aims to assess cGMP compliance in Ethiopian pharmaceutical manufacturers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed for this study. The data collection process involved a checklist for field observations and, interview-based questions. The checklist, developed based on WHO GMP requirements, was filled through direct site observations, document reviews, and discussions with key persons in the appropriate departments. The study included six companies located in Addis Ababa and its surrounding areas. The qualitative data were transformed into quantitative data through coding and categorization for easier analysis. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and other statistical tests with SPSS software version 28. The results were displayed using data visualization tools like tables and graphs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study revealed overall cGMP compliance rates of 62.8%, 85.84%, 84.95%, 86.72%, 84.95%, and 84.1% for companies 1\u20136, respectively. All companies had some degree of GMP non-conformity; however, only Company 1 had critical deviations. The GMP standards were well-maintained by the remaining five companies. Company 1 has to make improvements in several areas, most notably its QA systems. Additionally, Companies 1, 5, and 6 must improve their QRM systems. Company 5 needs to improve its production process, while Companies 1, 2, and 3 should focus on better managing their equipment and materials.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion and recommendation<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study evaluated GMP compliance levels across six pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ethiopia. Most of the assessed companies showed a satisfactory degree of GMP compliance. To improve compliance, minimize risks, and ensure product quality, safety, and operational efficiency, the study suggested strengthening risk mitigation measures such as raising employees\u2019 knowledge and training.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0343881","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T17:34:27Z","timestamp":1773077667000},"page":"e0343881","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Assessment of current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliance in pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ethiopia: Cross-sectional descriptive study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-8314-4872","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Teka Benti","family":"Adola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Desta","family":"Assefa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fikadu","family":"Ejeta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fanta","family":"Gashe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Getahun","family":"Paulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dereje Kebebe","family":"Borga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0343881.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03256183","article-title":"The World Health Organization and the Pharmaceutical Industry. Common areas of interest and differing views","volume":"21","author":"CJ Hardwicke","year":"2002","journal-title":"Adverse Drug React Toxicol Rev"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0343881.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"528","DOI":"10.1208\/s12248-016-9874-5","article-title":"Advancing Product Quality: a Summary of the Second FDA\/PQRI Conference","volume":"18","author":"LX Yu","year":"2016","journal-title":"AAPS J"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref003","volume-title":"Annex 2: WHO good manufacturing practices for sterile pharmaceutical products. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 1044","author":"WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations","year":"2022"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0343881.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.4103\/0975-7406.154424","article-title":"Good manufacturing practices for medicinal products for human use","volume":"7","author":"BG Gouveia","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Pharm Bioallied Sci"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-137-54647-0_5","article-title":"Bringing industrial and health policies closer: Reviving pharmaceutical production in Ethiopia","volume-title":"Making Medicines in Africa","author":"T Gebre-Mariam","year":"2016"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref006","volume-title":"National strategy and plan of action for pharmaceutical manufacturing development and improving access in Ethiopia (2015\u20132025)","author":"Ministry of Health Ethiopia","year":"2015"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0343881.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.58729\/1941-6687.1018","article-title":"A risk modeling framework for the pharmaceutical industry","volume":"7","author":"W Adis","year":"2007","journal-title":"Commun IIMA"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0343881.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1027","DOI":"10.4314\/ejhs.v32i5.18","article-title":"Trends and Challenges in Access to Essential Medicines in Ethiopia and the Contributions of Local Pharmaceutical Production","volume":"32","author":"T Marew","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ethiop J Health Sci"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0343881.ref009","first-page":"1","article-title":"Regulatory harmonization of East African communities: A study on selected pharmaceutical industries in Ethiopia","volume":"9","author":"G Daniel Waktole","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int Arch Clin Pharmacol"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref010","volume-title":"Guideline for registration of low-risk medicines","author":"Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA)","year":"2020","edition":"1"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref011","unstructured":"Sultan S, et al. Pharmaceutical regulatory framework in Ethiopia: A critical evaluation of its legal basis and implementation."},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref012","volume-title":"Good manufacturing practice (GMP) for medicinal products in Ethiopia: A retrospective analysis of regulatory inspection findings","author":"Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA)","year":"2022"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref013","volume-title":"Fiftieth report. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 957","author":"WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations","year":"2016"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0343881.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103759","DOI":"10.1016\/j.drudis.2023.103759","article-title":"Impact of GAMP 5, data integrity and QbD on quality assurance in the pharmaceutical industry: How obvious is it?","volume":"28","author":"F Pedro","year":"2023","journal-title":"Drug Discov Today"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref015","first-page":"16","article-title":"Examination and evaluation of GMP-compliant pharmaceutical production standards in the context of industry 4.0","volume":"9","author":"R W\u00f6lfle","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Appl Lead Manag"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0343881.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1186\/s12962-022-00348-1","article-title":"An assessment of adherence to the WHO-delineated good manufacturing practice by the pharmaceutical companies in Kabul, Afghanistan","volume":"20","author":"R Roien","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cost Eff Resour Alloc"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1103555","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2023.1103555","article-title":"Characteristics, risk management and GMP standards of pharmaceutical companies in China","volume":"11","author":"H Chen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref018","first-page":"77","article-title":"Good manufacturing practices in the Kenyan pharmaceutical industry and impact of facility upgrading on domestic and international sales","volume":"22","author":"SK Vugigi","year":"2019","journal-title":"East Cent Afr J Pharm Sci"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lubowa N, Ekeocha Z, Byrn S, Clase K. Pharmaceutical Industry in Uganda: A Review of the Common GMP Non-conformances during Regulatory Inspections. BIRS Africa Technical Reports. Paper 10. 2021.","DOI":"10.5703\/1288284317442"},{"key":"pone.0343881.ref020","volume-title":"Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Medicinal Products Annexes. PE 009-16","author":"PIC\/S","year":"2022"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0343881.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.1208\/s12249-019-1515-8","article-title":"Product Development, Manufacturing, and Packaging of Solid Dosage Forms Under QbD and PAT Paradigm: DOE Case Studies for Industrial Applications","volume":"20","author":"BN Singh","year":"2019","journal-title":"AAPS PharmSciTech"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0343881","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T17:34:33Z","timestamp":1773077673000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0343881"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Maher","family":"Darwish","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0343881","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]}}}