Microbial Control and Monitoring Strategies for Cleanroom Environments and Cellular Therapies

A well-validated and holistic program that incorporates robust gowning, cleaning, environmental monitoring, and personnel monitoring measures is critical for minimizing the microbial bioburden in cellular therapy manufacturing suites and the corresponding testing laboratories to ensure that the facilities are operating in a state of control. Ensuring product safety via quality control measures, such as sterility testing, is a regulatory requirement for both minimally manipulated (section 361) and more than minimally manipulated (section 351) human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps). In this video, we provide a stepwise guide for how to develop and incorporate the best aseptic practices for operating in a cleanroom environment, including gowning, cleaning, staging of materials, environmental monitoring, process monitoring, and product sterility testing using direct inoculation, provided by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP<71>) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Alternative Sterility Testing Method. This protocol is intended as a reference guide for establishments expected to meet current good tissue practices (cGTP) and current good manufacturing practices (cGMP).