Jennifer Gray of Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland, presented their strategy for validating the Millipore Milliflex Rapid as an alternative ATP bioluminescence RMM to the traditional compendial sterility test. The drivers for a rapid sterility test included the early identification of product contamination events, a reduction of through put time for sterile drug product release, and to increase the company’s level of expertise in the field of rapid microbiological methods. Novartis validated a 5-day sterility test using 22 heat-stressed cultures (7 ATCC strains and 15 environmental isolates). The cultures were also used to determine the most optimal medium to be used in the system. The FDA approved comparability protocols outlining the validation strategy for multiple products, EMA approval was obtained in February 2010 and MHRA approval was obtained in May 2010.
Amelia Tait-Kamradt, Pfizer, discussed their assessment of Pall’s new GeneDisc system. They conducted a number of studies addressing specificity, limit of detection, ruggedness, robustness, and the impact that excipients may have on the ability of the system to detect microorganisms. More information on the GeneDisc system may be found on our website on the Technology page.
Dr. Geert Verdonk of Merck presented his validation studies using the Charles River Laboratories Endosafe PTS. Dr. Verdonk explored the use of this rapid and portable endotoxin detection system as part of Merck’s PAT-RMM program. A variety of validation studies were also presented.