The Environmental Monitoring Program In a GMP …

1 I,MICROBIOLOGYTPICSTheEnvironmentalMonit oringProgramInaGMPE nvironmentScottSutton"MicrobiologyTopics " Theroutineenvironmentalmonitoringprogram isacriticalaspectofdocumentingthestateof controlofthefacility <1116>"MicrobiologicalControlandMonitoringEnvi ron-mentsUsedfortheManufactureofHealthca reProducts"isprovided Explicitexamplesareprovidedfrompublicall y-availablesources(FDA-483observationsan dwarningletters)ofenforcementactivi-ties basedongoodmanufacturingpracticefailures intheenviron-mentalmonitoringprogram ~-~~-~-~-~~---~--=~-~~-----~e~~~__-'-~'- ~~--r""~--~~~~_IiScottSutton,CoordinahHI NTRODUCTIONT hequalification,orrequalification, especiallytrue.

2 Cleaningstudies Contaminationcontrolplanning(1) Equipmentholdtimestudies(establishmentof cleananddirtyholdtimes~processholdtimesa reprocess-speCific) Selectionofsamplesitesforenvironmentalmo nitoring (EM) Program ,itssamplesites,frequencyofte sting, methodtoqualifyandjustifytheselectionof thesamplesiteswithina facilityusedforroutineenvironmentalmonit oringis ,thisdiscussiondoesnotincludesamplingoft hewatersystem,gasses, complexprogramsuchasenvironmentalmoni-to ring, , (2)is :"Inasepticprocessing, oneofthemostimportantlaboratorycontrolsi s ( ,whena givenbatchis beingmanufactured) ,allowingforimplementationofcorrec-tions beforeproductcontaminationoccurs( ).

3 " ,"Environmen-talmonitoringdatawillprovid einformationonthequalityof themanufacturingenvironment." (3)pointoutthatthemicrobiologicalassaysu sedhavelimitsofquantifi-cationhigherthan thecustomarycontrollevelsandsoaresubject toa greatdealof ,bytheirargument, ,thetrendofthedataisthecriticalaspect, ,pristineEMdataforanasepticprocessingfaC ilityspeakstothestateofcontrolofthatfaci lity,nottothe"sterility" subsequentarticle(4).Heobservedthatthere lationshipofEMdatatofinishedproductquali tywasanunproven, ,wecannotassumeitistrue,butthatitisunden iablethatthesedata(andparticularythetren dingof thesedata) , ,ofcourse, ,butvaluableasrawdataforthedetermination oftrendsinthefaCilityasa nottheonlyworkertopointoutthefundamental problemusing"rapid" (5)

4 "better" \6 GYT6 PICS-desirable,onlythattheyarenota a schoolofthoughtthatbelievesthatsamplesit esfortheEMprogramshouldnotbedefined,that samplingfroma incorrectandcontrarytogoodmanufacturingp ractice(GMP).Forexample,theFDAasepticpro cessinggUideline(2, )states:"Itisimportantthatlocationsposin gthemostmicrobiologicalrisktotheproductb ea ,considerationshouldbegiventothepointsof contaminationriskina process,includingfactorssuchasdifficulty ofsetup,lengthofprocessingtime, "Allenvironmentalmonitoringlocationsshou ldbedescribedinSOPswithsufficientdetailt oallowforreproduciblesamplingofa , ( ,duringorat theconclusionofoperations), , ( ,surfacearea,airvolume), , , "Inotherwords,thesitesusedintheroutineEM Program ," " 'swebsite(6).

5 Thefollowing483observationdealtwithsigni ficantis-suesinjustificationoftheEMsampl esites(7):"Regardingtheincreasednon-rout inesurveil-lancemonitoringperformedtofur therevaluatetheBuilding37 Flumanufacturingfacility,therewasnoplani nplacespecifyingthelocationstobetested,m ethodofsampling, (CFU)wereevaluatedformorphologicalcharac teristics,andonlycoloniesexhibitingGram- negativecharacteristicswereGramstainedan didentified The[redacted]methodusedforincreasedsur-v eillancemonitoringoftheenvironmenthasnot beenqualified."So,clearlyit is importanttohavea rationaleforthelocation, qualificationstudythatwillutilizemanymor esamplesitesthanwillbepresentintheroutin eprogram, (ISO)14644-1(8)describesa statesthatweshoulddeterminetheminimumnum berofsamplesitesbythefollowingequation:N =~ALwhereNLis theminimumnumberofsamplinglocations(roun deduptoa wholenumber)A is (whichistheintentandscope24 JournalofGXPC ompliance----'"'~~.)

6 ~""=------"-~,---~,ScottSutton,Coordinat l''u;of14644-1),butwealsowishtoconsiderv iableairsampling(bothpassiveandactive) , ,bothviableandnon-viableactiveairsamplin gsitesshouldbedoneatthesamelocations(ora scloseaspracticaltoavoidcompro-misingthe othermeasureortheproductintegrity). ( ,settleplates)isa frequently-usedmeasureofcleanroom(orcont rolledzone) ,chiefamongthemtheabilitytoremaininconti nuousexposureforuptofourhours(fourhoursi scitedinEuropeanUnion[EU]2008gUidance[9] -extendedexposuretimesmustbedemonstrated viademonstrationof thegrowthpromotingcapabilitiesoftheageda ndexposedmedia).

7 Inaddition,passiveviablemonitoring(settl eplates)isnotdisruptivetotheimmediateenv ironmentandsomaypossiblysamplesitesveryn earproductexposurepoints(seereference10f ora discussionofthese,andother,advantages).I naddition,settleplatesarenotaspronetovar iationamongdifferentvendorsasareactivesa mplers(11).However, ,settleplatesmaybeparticularlysusceptibl etohan-dling,transport, ,currentregulatoryexpectationforairmonit oringincludestheiruseandthejustifica-tio nof prudentmeasureistousethesamenumberof (PIC/S),whichgenerallycanbecountedontopr ovidedetailsonalmosteverythingmicrobiolo gical,is silentonthispoint(12).

8 Oddlyenough,eventheParenteralDrugAssocia tion(PDA)'sTechnicalReport#13(13) (asrelevant).Eachsurfacewouldthenbetreat edasa ,thenumberofsurfacesamplingsitesforequip mentremainsunansweredandis ,quitefrankly, , ,FDA,EU,andtheUnitedStatesPharmacopeia(U SP) #13providesthefollowinggUidanceinthisreg ard:Summer2010 Volume14 Number325---I,MICROBIO[(;)GYl'O~ICS"Fact orstoconsiderinselectingsitesforroutines urveillanceare: statisticaldesign( ,followingthecalculationsinFederalStan-d ard209E)orshouldsiteselectionbemadeonthe basisofgridprofiling?]

9 Shouldsomesitesforroutinemonitoringberot ated?[Notefromauthor:As20gehasbeenwithdr awninfavorofISO14644,theansweris"No"] ,sanitize,ordisinfect? a givensitedisturbtheenvironmentsufficient lytocauseerroneousdatatobecollectedorcon taminateproduct?"(13).TheUSFoodandDrugAd ministrationTheFDAasepticprocessingguida ncedocument(2)statesinsectionIVA:"Airint heimmediateproximityofexposedsteril-ized containers/closuresandfilling/closingope rationswouldbeofappropriateparticlequali tywhenithasaper-cubic-meterparticlecount ofnomorethan3520ina representativelocationsnormallynotmoreth anonefootawayfromtheworksite,withintheai rflow, (ISO5).

10 Werecommendthatmeasurementstoconfirmairc leanli-nessincriticalareasbetakenat siteswherethereismostpotentialrisktothee xposedsterilizedproduct,containers, "Someoperationscangeneratehighlevelsofpr oduct( ,powder)particlesthat,bytheirnature,dono tposea ,inthesecases, ,aircanbesampledinamannerthat,totheexten tpossible,characterizesthe truelevelofextrinsicparticlecontaminatio ntowhichtheproductis "Further, :"Sampletiming,frequency, "Itis importantthatlocationsposingthemostmicro biologicalrisktotheproductbea ,considerationshouldbegiventothepointsof contaminationriskina process,includingfactorssuchasdifficulty ofsetup,lengthofprocessingtime,andimpact of interventions.