FOOD AND DRUG ADM INISTRATION
OFFICE OF RE GULATOR Y AFFA IRS
Office of Regulatory Science
Document Number:
ORA.007
Revision #: 02
Revised:
25 Aug 202 0
Title :
Pharmaceutical Microbiology Manual
Page 2 of 92
For the m ost current an d official cop y, check QMiS.
2. Introduction
The Phar maceutical Microbiol ogy Manual (PMM) ev olved from the Steril ity
Analy tical Manual and is a s upplement t o the U nited States Pharmac opeia
(USP) for pharmac eutical micr obiolog y testing , including anti microbi al
effectiv eness testi ng, micr obial exa mination o f non- sterile pr oducts, sterili ty
testing , bacterial endotox in testing , particul ate matter, device bi oburden a nd
envir onmental monit oring tes ting. The g oal of t his manual i s to prov ide an
ORS/CD ER harmoniz ed framew ork on the k nowledg e, methods an d tools
needed, and to appl y the appro priate scie ntific standards req uired to assess
the sa fety and effi cacy o f medical prod ucts wit hin ORS testi ng labora tories.
The PMM h as expand ed to incl ude some r apid screeni ng techniq ues along
wi th a new section t hat cov ers inspectio nal gui dance for mi crobiologi sts that
conduct t eam insp ections.
This ma nual was dev eloped by members o f the Pharmac eutical Microbiolog y
Editori al Board and includes indivi duals wit h specializ ed experience and
traini ng.
The instr uctions in this docu ment are g uidelines for ORS an alysts. When
avail able, analy sts should us e procedur es and w orksheets t hat are
standar dized and h armoniz ed across all ORS labs, al ong w ith the PMM , when
performi ng analy ses related to produc t testing of pharmace uticals an d medical
devic es. When chang es or dev iations are n ecessar y, documen tation shoul d be
complete d per the l aborator y’s Quali ty Manag ement Sys tem. General ly, these
changes s hould ori ginate fro m situati ons such as new products , unusual
products , or uniq ue situatio ns.
This ma nual was w ritten to re duce comp endia metho d ambigui ty and inc rease
standar dization b etween ORS l aboratori es. By pr oviding clearer inst ructions to
ORS labs, greater t ransparency can be pr ovided to both indus try and th e
public.
How e v er, it should be emphasi zed that this manual is a suppl ement and does
not repl ace any i nformation i n USP or applicabl e FDA offi cial guidan ce
referenc es. The PM M does not reliev e any person or labora tory from t he
responsi bility o f ensuring that the m ethods be ing employed from the manual
are fit for use, a nd that all testing is v alidated and/or v erified by the user.
The P MM w ill continual ly be rev ised as new er products, pl atforms and
technol ogies emerg e or any significant sc ientific gaps are i dentified with
product testing.
Referenc e to any c ommercial material s, equipme nt, or proc ess in th e PMM
does not in any w ay constitut e approv al, endor sement, or r ecommendati on by
the U.S . Food and D rug Administ ration.