GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE FOR BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING (ERT 421). Huzairy Hassan School of Bioprocess Engineering UniMAP. What is Validation?.
School of Bioprocess Engineering
Validation is a systematic approach to gathering and analyzing sufficient data which will give reasonable assurance (documented evidence), based upon scientific judgment, that a process, when operating within specified parameters, will consistently produce results within predetermined specifications
Validation of process for a product already in distribution, based on accumulated production, testing, and control data. Summary of historical data.
Validation conducted prior to distribution either of a new product, or a product made under a revised manufacturing process. Validation is completed and the results are approved prior to any product release.
A combination of retrospective and prospective validation. Performed against an approved protocol but product is released on a lot-by-lot basis. Usually used on an existing product not previously validated or insufficiently validated.
To validate change in equipment, packing, formulation operating procedure, or process that could impact product safety, efficacy, or potency. It is important to establish a revalidation program for critical equipment to maintain validity.
Importance of Validation
Reduction in rejections and reworking
Reduction in utility costs
Avoidance of capital expenditures
Fewer complains about process-related failures
Reduced testing in-process and in finished goods
More rapid and reliable start-up of new equipment
Easier scale-up from development work
Easier maintenance of equipment
Improves employee awareness of process
More rapid automation
CFR 211.220: “' . . . validation protocols that identify the product and product specifications and specify the procedure and acceptance criteria for the tests to be conducted and the data to be collected during process validation shall be developed and approved..”
Without process validation, confidence in the quality of products manufactured is difficult to prove.
Lead to quality improvement, as well as better consistency.
Reduce the dependence upon intensive in-process and finished product testing.
Validated process is a more efficient process that produces less reworks, rejects, wastage, etc.
1) Establishing policies and procedures
ex:- how validation fits within the overall QA structure and its relationship with cGMP
- commitment to cGMP and its reinforcement through validation
- definition of key terms such as critical process step, critical equipment and instrumentation, the various qualification activities including DQ, IQ, OQ, PQ etc.
- how validation is structured and applied with respect to plant, processes, computer systems, analytical methods, etc.
Process evaluation involves a review of the process:
- to identify the process steps and process variables,
- to determine how they are controlled/monitored and
- to identify what processing, equipment, utilities, instrumentation and control systems are associated with these steps.
The specification and procedures required for the process such as equipment operation and maintenance, calibration, set-up, cleaning and in-process testing should be identified, since these will need to be prepared for the new facility.
- These should be prepared by the user to formally document the requirements for each system to be qualified in terms of the final process requirements.
- A URS should typically include specific, but non-detailed information relating to, for example, quantity, quality, compatibility, performance, environment and finishes, in terms of :
- The objective is to break the facility down into logical, manageable sized packages of qualification work, and concentrate the validation effort in the most important areas to allow structured qualification
- A system may be an area of the facility (group of rooms), a group of functionally related process items, a utility or part of a utility, a HVAC, a computerized/automation system or any combination of these.
- Determination of system boundaries involves the evaluation of the proposed facility design to establish the boundaries and break points for each package of qualification work.
- Systems may then be categorized as 'Primary' or 'Secondary‘.
Primary systems = large, complex, purpose built or configured, generally fixed in place units
(Ex: aseptic filling suite, low temperature hot water system, water for injection system, electrical power distribution system, etc).
Secondary systems =smaller, simple, 'off the shelf, generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration
(Ex: such as a bench top balance, filter integrity tester, a pallet-bailing machine and a 10-litre standard holding tank).
This is a formal, approved document that describes in clear and concise wording the general philosophy, expectations, intentions and methods to be adopted for the validation study.
VMP is an agreed document acting as a road map or guide for all team members to follow.
The VMP will then be a living document, updated regularly and amended during the course of the project. At the end of the project the VMP should define how the validation was actually performed.
The VMP, as with all formal validation documents, should be prepared, reviewed, approved and controlled under pre-defined company policies and procedures with final approval by QA.
1) Approval page - Title page to the entire document and should contain the name of the company, the title and a space for approval signatures. The approvals should come from the people affected by the validation project, such as production, QA and engineering functions related to the facility.
2) Introduction - The introduction should explain why the project is being undertaken, where it is going to be located and the broad timetable.
3) Aim - The aim should explain that this is to be a formal validation study on a specific project and show that the approach conforms to cGMP. The aim may point to the various company policies and procedures under which the VMP is to be prepared and controlled.
4) generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration Description of:
Facility - This section of the VMP should outline the facility's intended use, briefly discuss how it is to be built and state whether it is an entirely new facility or an expansion of an existing one.
Services/ Utilities -This section may consist of a list of plant utilities and services, such as cold potable water, purified water, water for injection, plant air, instrument air, nitrogen, chilled water.
Equipment generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration - list of all the major items of equipment that are going to be installed into the facility, for example, porous load steam sterilizer, bench top balance, or powder mixer.
batch size, ingredients, quantities per unit dose, quantities per batch, the steps by which the product is manufactured, process flow diagrams, summary of manufacturing method.
Computer systems - This section lists all the computer systems associated with the facility, process equipment and utilities as well as IT systems to operate the plant such as LIMS, SCADA and MRP systems, and provides descriptions of each system picking out any important performance.
Validation Methodology generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration
Describe what types of documents will be generated within the project (protocols and reports — Design Qualification (DQ), Installation Qualification (IQ), Operational Qualification (OQ), Performance Qualification (PQ), and Process Validation (PV)) and how they will be prepared, reviewed, approved and controlled.
- Validation schedule;
- Validation approach;
- Batch production records;
- Packing instructions;
1) GMP/cGMP reviews of overall facility design
2) Establishing the suitability of vendors and vendor deliverables through vendor assessment and auditing where appropriate;
3) Review and approval of equipment specifications and design documentation to ensure user requirement specifications (URS) have been adequately interpreted in the design process and that the design is in compliance with GMP.
4) Compilation of design documents;
5) QA/QC review;
6) Facility acceptance testing (FAT).
GMP reviews of overall facility design generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration
To assure: - it complies with the applicable statutes and associated published current Good Manufacturing Practices;
- it complies with applicable regulatory licence(s) and registrations submitted for the particular process(es) or product(s) to be manufactured, held or stored.
DQ of each system
Vendor assessment - is the documented evaluation of the suitability and capability of the vendor to provide the 'system' to be procured to the quality required to fulfil user and cGMP requirements, including all necessary supporting documentation.
The documented evaluation of the equipment or system to establish that it has been installed in accordance with design specifications, cGMP requirements and manufacturers recommendations.
Consist of various static checks:
1) System completion: Check that the system is mechanically complete and all critical punch list items have been cleared. Check that all work which should have been completed and documented during the construction and installation of the system has been performed.
2 generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration ) Security /utility connections: Check that the correct connection of utilitieshas been made and that, where appropriate, utilities have been IQed;
3) Documentation inventory: Check that all necessary supporting documentation such as specifications, operation and maintenance manuals are available and have been reviewed and approved;
4) Equipment inventory: Check that installed equipment name plate data complies with specification and record equipment serial numbers;
5) Materials qualification: Check that, where appropriate, contact part materials, surface finishes and lubricants are in accordance with the specification.
6) Drawing validation: Perform a P&ID (Piping and Instrumentation Diagram)walk-down to check that all main components are as shown and in the sequence indicated.
7) generally portable items with no or minimal unique features or configuration Main equipment features: Check that each main component is in accordance with the construction drawing, check critical specifications such as filter grade, perform any static checks required prior to start up, such as checking lubricant levels, drive belt tension and torque settings;
8) Instrument calibration
9) Spares and maintenance: For example, getting a copy of the spares list reviewed and approved by the maintenance department and then checking that all spares have been supplied, and checking that the maintenance and calibration programme for the system is in place and that equipment log book(s) have been prepared.
OQ is the documented evaluation of the system to show that it operates as intended throughout the anticipated operating ranges.
Air supply system:
- down-flow and bleed air velocity (check that when correct velocity is achieved inside the booth and the volumetric flow rate is within range);
- green zone velocity test (to ensure that the green zone of safe airflow is set to correspond to an average filter face velocity of between 0.45 and 0.55 msec-1);
- filter pressure differential test (to ensure that the pressure drop across each filter is within the correct operating range and to provide a baseline clean filter reading);
- dirty filter simulation test (to ensure that the airflow rate is controlled to maintain correct down-flow velocity with dirty filters);
Containment systems: could consist of:
- HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Arrestor) filter integrity testing (check that all HEPA filters are integral and pass the DOP (Dioctyl Phthalate) test);
- smoke containment test (to demonstrate using smoke that the booth contains emissions generated within the safe working zone at both the minimum and maximum safe airflow setting, and that fresh make-up air drawn in from outside the booth is drawn in and maintained below bench top height through to the back of the booth);
- air flow alarm (to demonstrate the functionality of the unsafe flow alarm system);
- emergency stop (to demonstrate the functionality of the emergency stop system and check that all devices move to fail safe condition).
Most projects undergo a period of plant handover following completion of OQ.
This is normally the time that 'ownership' of the facility is transferred from the engineering function to the user function.
Before the next stage of the validation can begin, a period of time is spent optimizing the process.
For example in BPC (Bulk Pharmaceutical Chemical) plants this may encompass 'solvent trials', where solvents to be used in the facility are first introduced. This may require re-tuning of control loops that have only previously operated with water.
The nitrogen system may now switch from running on compressed air over to running with nitrogen. Plant safety is clearly of primary concern during this phase.
PQ is the documented evaluation of the system to show that the system operates as intended throughout the anticipated operating ranges, under conditions as close as possible to normal production.
PQ work should be performed on systems whose performance or process parameters are critical and could affect the quality of the product.
Examples of the systems requiring PQ work are pieces of process equipment such as a production sterilizer and critical utilities such as a WFI system.
The contents of a PQ protocol may include: could consist of:
Establishing documented evidence which provides a high degree of assurance that a specific process will consistently produce a product meeting its predetermined specifications and quality attributes
a PV is a PQ of the manufacturing process.
1 could consist of:st step: Identifying the critical parameters and understanding how each of them can adversely affect the finished product.
2nd step: examine the effect of each of the critical parameters on the process to ensure that the variability in the parameter anticipated during routine production does not adversely affect the quality of the product.
3rd step: successfully complete PV work is to examine a number of consecutive batches (usually three). The sampling and testing of these batches should be designed around the critical parameters.
Process validation is associated with the process and not with the product. It is the list of instructions that is being qualified. An alternative process that produces the same product will be subjected to a separate process validation.
The contents of a typical PV protocol should include: could consist of:
Sterile products could consist of:
- validate the process to gain assurance that the system can deliver a sterile product. This would include, for example, themal mapping, thermal commissioning, filter integrity testing and control systems testing;
- validate the manufacturing process of the actual product including process technology and biological testing.
1) a sampling method to detect and pick up the remaining contaminants;
2) a method of analysis to quantify the amount of contaminant remaining;
3) a calculation to extrapolate the results.
2) aqueous/solvent rinses;
3) non-active product follow through.
(a) Swabbing pharmaceutical industry but 'clean-in-place' (CIP) systems are rapidly expanding and 'sterilization-in place‘ (SIP) is also being introduced.
- Involves the use of dry or solvent impregnated swabs, which are wiped over a known area of the processing equipment.
- The contamination picked up is extracted in the laboratory by soaking the swab in a suitable solvent, and the solvent is then analysed to give a quantitative result.
- The total quantity of the contamination is calculated by multiplying the total area of the equipment by the swabbed area.
(b) Aqueous/solvent rinses
- commonly used in areas where it is difficult to swab (such as pipework or a sealed reactor in a bulk chemical plant).
- The method involves rinsing with a known volume of water/solvent and then analysing a small quantity of the rinse.
- The total amount of contaminant is:
(Quantity in sample x Total volume of rinse) / Volume sample
- The solvent used must provide sufficient solubility to pick up the contamination effectively but must not degrade the contaminant.
(c) Non-active product follow-through pharmaceutical industry but 'clean-in-place' (CIP) systems are rapidly expanding and 'sterilization-in place‘ (SIP) is also being introduced.
- The non-active product follow-through is sometimes used, and involves processing a non-active substance through the whole process and then analysing samples for the contaminant.
- The calculation is analogous to the rinse method.
- Advantage: it mimics the real situation of a subsequent batch being processed, and that it covers all the equipment involved.
- However, as with the rinse method, only the contaminant that has been picked up can be measured, and not the contaminant left behind.
CIP validation cycle:
1) Assess design of CIP system including analytical method development;
2) Experimental work to optimize cycle and cleaning agents and including analytical method validation;
3) Change control system;
4) Operational qualification;
5) Cleaning validation protocol;
6) Cleaning validation report for three successive cleaning cycles.
Cleaning validation/PQ protocol: a reproducible cleaning process. This process needs to be effective and optimized to provide the best chance of successfully validating the cleaning process.
- definition of equipment being used;
- definition of the product(s) being cleaned from the equipment, and the product that will subsequently occupy the equipment;
- explanation of the parameters being used in the cleaning process (temperature, times, pressures, detergent types and concentrations, etc.);
- sampling regime (sampling method(s), number and location of samples);
- testing procedures (description of tests to be performed on samples);
- acceptance criteria (acceptable maximum levels of contamination in each of the samples).
Validation of manual cleaning a reproducible cleaning process. This process needs to be effective and optimized to provide the best chance of successfully validating the cleaning process.
Manual cleaning validation cycle:
- Experimental work (optimize cleaning method, drying cycle, etc.);
- Change control system;
- Prepare standard operating procedure (SOP);
- Operator training including retraining/re- evaluation;
- Evaluation of training;
- Cleaning validation protocol;
- Cleaning validation report.
Assessment of computer systems to determine validation requirements
1) GMP implication:
Generally any computer system with GMP implications should be validated. For example, critical operations; controlling or monitoring operations that can affect product quality;
2) System functionality:
If the computer system is only used for supervisory tasks, with no computer-generated information being used by or forming part of the batch record information then generally the computer system does not require validation;
3) Safety critical systems: a reproducible cleaning process. This process needs to be effective and optimized to provide the best chance of successfully validating the cleaning process.
Although GMP does not cover safety critical systems, there is a good argument for them being treated in the same way;
4) System configuration:
Although a computer system may be involved with critical operations, it might be that another independent system provides a full check of the operation of the computer system. In this case the computer system does not generally require validation;
5) System operability:
Although the system may be computerized, the corresponding operating procedures may introduce so many manual operations and checks that all computer controlled operations are duplicated by the way the system is operated. In this case the computer system does not generally require validation.