Cleaning Validation Minimum requirements

If company policy is not to validate all equipment cleaning procedures for all products
then as a minimum requirement the validation policy should encompass conditions
which represent the most appropriate challenges (worst case) to the procedure.
These would include, as an example, such things as:
· Removal of products which contain the products with the greatest biological
activity.
· Removal of products containing the products/intermediates/byproducts with the
least solubility.
These represent studies that are minimally required as part of a validation, the results
from which could be used to support lesser challenges to the procedure. It is often
termed product grouping.
· The maximum idle time before cleaning.
A validation program generally encompasses three consecutive successful replicates to
establish that the procedure is reproducibly effective although companies should
evaluate each situation individually.
Where equipment of similar size, design and construction is cleaned by the same
procedure, studies need not be conducted on each unit, as long as a total of three
successful replicates are done on similar pieces of equipment (equipment grouping).
Concurrent Validation may be appropriate when product is manufactured infrequently.