In a continuous process involving several purification steps, must all the intermediates be released prior to going into the next step provided each step has its own protocol and article number and that the process consists of a series of those steps?

Q7A (section 8.3) allows, especially at the intermediate level, for the manufacturing arm or
research arm to test and release. Depending on what your internal written procedures say will
drive who’s going to do the testing and release. It may not even be in the filing. The filing would
tend to drive it, but it could also be driven by your own internal procedures.