Cross contamination must be avoided in the Pharmaceutical industry at all costs and successful cleaning validation ensures that patients are not put at risk due to cross contamination.

The process can be divided into a number of sections each of which must be fully understood and areas of concern addressed to ensure a successful outcome across the entire process. This spans both the manufacturing and subsequent analytical and microbological support.

The data used to confirm a positive/successful cleaning validation is underpinned by the results of validated analytical methods. It is essential that these results are truly representative as patient safety is based upon the absence of equipment residues.

So what are those areas of concern, what affects your ability to get a successful outcome and what do you need to consider when carrying out a Cleaning Validation exercise?