Tissue-derived products are a class of biological materials harvested directly from animal or human tissue, in contrast to recombinant DNA materials grown in cell culture bioreactors. Tissue-derived products are often used for structural purposes and are typically regulated as medical devices. However, when used to treat human patients, tissue-derived products are subject to many of the same concerns as recombinant DNA biotherapeutics, with viral safety being one of them. To address this, the tissue source material must undergo a risk analysis and testing regimen for the presence of viral contaminants. In addition, viral clearance studies must be performed to evaluate whether the purification process is robust enough to remove and/or inactivate viruses that may be present in the starting material.
The goals of viral clearance studies are the same for tissue-derived products and biotherapeutics, but the design and performance of these studies can be quite different because of the diverse nature of the materials. In this article, we will present an overview of viral clearance studies for tissue-derived products based on our experience in performing a large number of such studies. Rather than discussing the issues related to viral clearance in general, our focus will be on the unique challenges that tissue-derived products pose.