The Pharmaceutical Industry has a strong need to develop knowledge from data. Although the latter is not at a premium in the Pharmaceutical Industry the former is, as always, at a premium. Multivariate data analysis (MVA) is a set of statistical data analytical methods which has been widely adopted within the Pharmaceutical Industry, and it has pre-eminence within the discipline.
The ability of MVA to provide validatable solutions within a Regulated Pharmaceutical environment has arisen because of its transparency and reproducibility, across a wide field of data sources. An ecosystem of software providers, allied with hardware solutions, means that the techniques are becoming widely understood and applied.
Key to this adoption has been the ability of MVA techniques to meet not only direct Regulatory Guidance, but also Industry Standards such as ICH Q8 and initiatives such as Quality by Design.
A wide body of literature is now available which explains how to use the technique appropriately, so that these Guidances can be met, leading to robust solutions