Author Spotlight: Microbial Control and Monitoring Strategies for Cleanroom Environments and Cellular Therapies

Clinical microbiology labs are being increasingly asked to assist with sterility testing as cellular therapies emerge as frontline treatment options. This project aims to provide clear instructions for implementing microbial monitoring and testing strategies applicable to any CGMP setting with a particular focus on academic and clinical laboratories. Gold standard microbial testing and CGMP relies on traditional culture-based methods, which are slow.

While newer technologies exist, implementation is often limited by the regulatory requirement to conduct rigorous end-user validations to demonstrate non-inferiority. We hope that future work will help establish newer technologies into the mainstream for CGMP testing. There is no standardization between programs in CGMP.

While a regulatory framework is provided, microbial monitoring and testing strategies are unique to each facility and rely on a risk-based approach and end-user validation. This can be confusing for establishing new CGMP programs in the clinical setting. Our group aims to bring awareness of CGMP to the clinical setting.

We have published large-scale studies highlighting the advantages and pitfalls of blood culture systems for sterility testing as well as review articles demonstrating major differences between the clinical and CGMP microbiology labs and areas for consideration if implementing sterility testing in the clinical setting.