Cleaning Validation Best Practices for Drugs, Biologics and Personal Care Products

By the end of this course, attendees will:

• Understand the importance and underlying principles of validation of cleaning procedures for manufacturing equipment.
• Understand the FDA requirements and perspectives on cleaning validation and areas of regulatory concern during inspections, and identify gaps in their own programs.
• Be able to set up cleaning validation practices, procedures, protocols, and reports that meet current FDA, WHO, PIC/S, and EU regulations and align with current process validation principles, including understanding of critical process parameters, sources and control of variability, process monitoring, and control scheme. 
• Be able to develop and defend your own rigorous but pragmatic cleaning validation approach to avoid costly rejections by regulatory agencies, but also avoid unnecessary activities and overkill.

Compliance Overview

Why Clean? Manage Risk of Batch-to-Batch Contamination

• Contamination types and sources
• Contamination control and process strategies
• Single-use, dedicated campaigns
• Cleaning validation compliance scope 

Regulatory Aspects 

• Cleaning validation guidelines and expectations
• U.S. FDA
• EMEA
• PICs, organizations
• Regulatory trends: Process validation 
• Regulator concerns about cleaning validation 
• Cleaning validation: Establishment Inspection Reports (EIRs), FDA 483 observations, and warning letters.

Review of Industry Practice

• Approach to process understanding and control
• Approach to residue risk and limits  
• Approach to inspection and sampling 
• Cleaning validation management: Typical elements of a policy/program

Better Practices to Implement a Robust Cleaning Validation Program 

Evaluate Equipment and Residues: Risk Assessment

• The information gathering process
• Equipment/product matrix
• Substrate/residue matrix
• Equipment use type and use patterns
• Qualitative residue risk assessment

Cleaning Process Fundamentals

Define and Control Critical Process Parameters (CPPs) 

• Review of current cleaning processes/procedures
• Agents: Select and justify the right cleaning agents for your substrate/residue 
• Methods: Immersion, film flow, impingement, pipe flow, and defining adequate parameters to provide consistent results
• Procedural aspects

1. CIP vs. COP; Manual vs. Automatic: Advantages and disadvantages
2. Sequence, duration, interval, pattern, direction
3. Other time concepts: Dirty hold time (DHT) and clean hold time (CHT) 

Establish Scientifically Sound Contamination Limits

• Convert qualitative risk to quantitative risk: Health-based contamination levels

1. Maximum allowable carryover (MAC) vs. acceptable daily exposure (ADE)
2. Drug activity-minimum therapeutic dose, largest daily dose
3. Toxic, allergenic, and other bioactive materials

• Purity (adulteration) based limits approach and calculations
• Residue contamination risk matrix
• Critical quality attributes-surface acceptance limit (SAL)
• Use of visual criteria for determining if equipment is clean

Better Practices to Implement a Robust Cleaning Validation Program (cont.)

Develop and Qualify Inspection and Control Methods 

• Inspection, sampling, and monitoring methods

1. Sampling rationale and impact
2. Choice of sampling type (visual, swab, rinse). Special topic: Visual analysis
3. Process indicators and control scheme: Type, frequency, timing

• Analytical, laboratory, validation issues

1. Specific vs. non-specific methods
2. Suitability, sensitivity, and specificity issues (LOD/LOQ)
3. Analytical method development, validation
4. Recovery studies, qualification sample method. Special topic: Rinse qualification  
5. Special topic: Visual analysis and inspection

Select and Justify Acceptance Criteria and Qualification Test Plans

• How to convert batch limits and surface limits to sample acceptance criteria
• Special Topic: How to avoid unrealistic “worst case” traps
• Calculated criteria vs. documented process capability 
• The correct way to implement a grouping/matrix concept: How to use product/equipment matrix and risk matrix to select protocol challenge conditions, worst case products, and equipment, and determine acceptance criteria  
• Process performance qualification: Understanding the validation space 

Install a Life Cycle Management Program for Cleaning Validation Maintenance 

• Process life cycle overview
• Flexible management, organization, and documentation practices

1. Master plans, area plans, protocols, reports

• Organizing for ongoing, incremental process control and improvement

1. Process development guidelines
2. Continuous process verification; post-validation monitoring after equipment cleaning (visual inspection and type and frequency of sampling/testing)
3. Planned reviews and assessment
4. Revalidation and change control (known vs. hidden change) 

Discussion Topics and Forum

• Microbiological aspects of a cleaning validation program for manufacturing equipment

1. Cleaning impact on viable contamination (clean hold issues)
2. Cleaning, sanitization, and sterilization after use versus before use

• Issues for specific sub-industries and related manufacturing facilities

1. Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers
2. Biotechnology facilities
3. Dietary supplement manufacturers
4. Cosmetic manufacturers

• Best practices going forward: The future of cleaning processes and cleaning validation

1. Containment concept, EMEA, and International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE)
2. Use of disposable equipment
3. New innovative equipment design facilitating easier cleaning
4. New cleaning technology (e.g. sprayball design)
5. New surface analyzers

Highly Qualified Instructor

Course director Steven Weitzel is a Vice President of Technical Operations with decades of hands-on experience in critical process cleaning. Weitzel offers a unique perspective, bringing his mastery of regulatory requirements and deep expertise in the chemistry behind effective cleaning.

"The course director was exceptional in relating the material to real life applications for all attendees. The content and presentation was well organized and engaging."

Colby B., Precision Medicine Assoc., Regeneron

"I found the course to be useful in establishing a general outline of what will be required when moving to a matrix approach to our cleaning validation program. I found course materials and the instructor to be very knowledgeable and helpful."

Dean R., Senior Technician, Teva Pharmaceuticals

"Good amount of material and well presented. Excellent job engaging attendees and tailoring discussion."

TJ W., Lead Investigator, Adhesives Research

"Good presentation. I now have a better understanding of Cleaning Validation and I can start applying what I learned immediately to ensure that my firm is in full compliance."

Jaime S., Director - Regulatory Compliance, MeriCal, Inc.

"The Course Director was very good at encompassing all I wanted. There were good examples and sample problems. I enjoyed the small group setting that allowed easy interaction with the instructor. We had good group discussions/debates and worked out problems well together. An excellent course for beginner CV personnel."

Kristen H., Process Validation Engineer, Shire HGT

"This was an excellent seminar - the best Cleaning Validation training I have ever attended! The Course Director was an engaging presenter. This seminar is applicable to both new and seasoned professionals that are interested in learning about cleaning validation."

Samuel L., Site General Manager, ISP