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Liu JZ, Li L, Fang WJ. A Novel Size Exclusion Chromatography Method for the Analysis of Monoclonal Antibodies and Antibody-drug Conjugates by Using Sodium Iodide in the Mobile Phase. Pharm Res 2024; 41:1893-1901. [PMID: 39231906 DOI: 10.1007/s11095-024-03763-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSES Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is widely used to characterize molecular size variants of antibody drugs. However, SEC analysis is hindered by secondary interactions (or nonspecific interactions) between proteins and stationary phase packing, which result in poor column efficiency. Previous studies have reported that chaotropic salt can inhibit these interactions, but the corresponding applications of this aspect are relatively rare. Therefore, this study introduces a novel approach using sodium iodide (NaI) as a mobile-phase component in SEC and investigates the influence of the mobile-phase composition on secondary interactions. METHODS SEC analysis was performed on one antibody-drug conjugate and four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) using three different mobile-phase systems (i.e., sodium chloride/L-arginine hydrochloride/NaI mobile phases system) to compare the column efficiency. Subsequently, mAb-1 was used as a model to investigate the effects of these factors on secondary interactions by adjusting the ionic strength (salt concentration) and pH of the NaI mobile-phase system. RESULTS NaI exhibits superior column efficiency performance in the SEC analysis of most products. The ionic strength will affect nonideal electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction. An appropriate ionic strength can inhibit electrostatic interactions, while an excessive ionic strength increases hydrophobic interactions. pH primarily influences electrostatic interactions. Determining the appropriate pH necessitates consideration of the isoelectric point of the protein and the pH tolerance of the column. CONCLUSIONS In SEC analysis, using NaI as the salt component in the mobile phase reduces secondary interactions and improves column efficiency. This approach is advantageous for samples with intense secondary interactions and is a suitable alternative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian-Zhong Liu
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- Taizhou Institute of Zhejiang University, Taizhou, 317000, China
| | - Lei Li
- Zhejiang Bioray Biopharmaceutical Co., Taizhou, 317000, China
| | - Wei-Jie Fang
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
- Taizhou Institute of Zhejiang University, Taizhou, 317000, China.
- Innovation Center of Translational Pharmacy, Jinhua Institute of Zhejiang University, Jinhua, 321000, China.
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310016, China.
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Graf T, Naumann L, Bonnington L, Heckel J, Spensberger B, Klein S, Brey C, Nachtigall R, Mroz M, Hogg TV, McHardy C, Martinez A, Braaz R, Leiss M. Expediting online liquid chromatography for real-time monitoring of product attributes to advance process analytical technology in downstream processing of biopharmaceuticals. J Chromatogr A 2024; 1729:465013. [PMID: 38824753 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2024.465013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
The application of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) principles for manufacturing of biotherapeutics proffers the prospect of ensuring consistent product quality along with increased productivity as well as substantial cost and time savings. Although this paradigm shift from a traditional, rather rigid manufacturing model to a more scientific, risk-based approach has been advocated by health authorities for almost two decades, the practical implementation of PAT in the biopharmaceutical industry is still limited by the lack of fit-for-purpose analytical methods. In this regard, most of the proposed spectroscopic techniques are sufficiently fast but exhibit deficiencies in terms of selectivity and sensitivity, while well-established offline methods, such as (ultra-)high-performance liquid chromatography, are generally considered as too slow for this task. To address these reservations, we introduce here a novel online Liquid Chromatography (LC) setup that was specifically designed to enable real-time monitoring of critical product quality attributes during time-sensitive purification operations in downstream processing. Using this online LC solution in combination with fast, purpose-built analytical methods, sampling cycle times between 1.30 and 2.35 min were achieved, without compromising on the ability to resolve and quantify the product variants of interest. The capabilities of our approach are ultimately assessed in three case studies, involving various biotherapeutic modalities, downstream processes and analytical chromatographic separation modes. Altogether, our results highlight the expansive opportunities of online LC based applications to serve as a PAT tool for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Graf
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Lukas Naumann
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Lea Bonnington
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Jakob Heckel
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Bernhard Spensberger
- Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Munich, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Nonnenwald 2, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Sascha Klein
- Pharma Technical Development Bioprocessing, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Christoph Brey
- Pharma Technical Development Bioprocessing, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Ronnie Nachtigall
- Pharma Technical Development Bioprocessing, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Mroz
- Pharma Technical Development Bioprocessing, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Thomas Vagn Hogg
- Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Munich, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Nonnenwald 2, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Christopher McHardy
- Pharma Technical Development Bioprocessing, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Andrés Martinez
- Gene Therapy Technical Development, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Reinhard Braaz
- Pharma Technical Development Clinical Supply Center, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany
| | - Michael Leiss
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, 82377 Penzberg, Germany.
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D'Atri V, Imiołek M, Quinn C, Finny A, Lauber M, Fekete S, Guillarme D. Size exclusion chromatography of biopharmaceutical products: From current practices for proteins to emerging trends for viral vectors, nucleic acids and lipid nanoparticles. J Chromatogr A 2024; 1722:464862. [PMID: 38581978 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2024.464862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/31/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
The 21st century has been particularly productive for the biopharmaceutical industry, with the introduction of several classes of innovative therapeutics, such as monoclonal antibodies and related compounds, gene therapy products, and RNA-based modalities. All these new molecules are susceptible to aggregation and fragmentation, which necessitates a size variant analysis for their comprehensive characterization. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is one of the reference techniques that can be applied. The analytical techniques for mAbs are now well established and some of them are now emerging for the newer modalities. In this context, the objective of this review article is: i) to provide a short historical background on SEC, ii) to suggest some clear guidelines on the selection of packing material and mobile phase for successful method development in modern SEC; and iii) to highlight recent advances in SEC, such as the use of narrow-bore and micro-bore columns, ultra-wide pore columns, and low-adsorption column hardware. Some important innovations, such as recycling SEC, the coupling of SEC with mass spectrometry, and the use of alternative detectors such as charge detection mass spectrometry and mass photometry are also described. In addition, this review discusses the use of SEC in multidimensional setups and shows some of the most recent advances at the preparative scale. In the third part of the article, the possibility of SEC for the characterization of new modalities is also reviewed. The final objective of this review is to provide a clear summary of opportunities and limitations of SEC for the analysis of different biopharmaceutical products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina D'Atri
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU - Rue Michel Servet 1,4, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU - Rue Michel Servet 1,4, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Abraham Finny
- Waters Corporation, Wyatt Technology, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Matthew Lauber
- Waters Corporation, Wyatt Technology, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | | | - Davy Guillarme
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU - Rue Michel Servet 1,4, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU - Rue Michel Servet 1,4, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
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Wang X, Chang W, Khosraviani M, Phung W, Peng L, Cohen S, Andrews BT, Sun Y, Davies CW, Koerber JT, Yang J, Song A. Application of N-Terminal Site-Specific Biotin and Digoxigenin Conjugates to Clinical Anti-drug Antibody Assay Development. Bioconjug Chem 2024; 35:174-186. [PMID: 38050929 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.3c00421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Biotin- and digoxigenin (DIG)-conjugated therapeutic drugs are critical reagents used for the development of anti-drug antibody (ADA) assays for the assessment of immunogenicity. The current practice of generating biotin and DIG conjugates is to label a therapeutic antibody with biotin or DIG via primary amine groups on lysine or N-terminal residues. This approach modifies lysine residues nonselectively, which can impact the ability of an ADA assay to detect those ADAs that recognize epitopes located at or near the modified lysine residue(s). The impact of the lysine modification is considered greater for therapeutic antibodies that have a limited number of lysine residues, such as the variable heavy domain of heavy chain (VHH) antibodies. In this paper, for the first time, we report the application of site-specifically conjugated biotin- and DIG-VHH reagents to clinical ADA assay development using a model molecule, VHHA. The site-specific conjugation of biotin or DIG to VHHA was achieved by using an optimized reductive alkylation approach, which enabled the majority of VHHA molecules labeled with biotin or DIG at the desirable N-terminus, thereby minimizing modification of the protein after labeling and reducing the possibility of missing detection of ADAs. Head-to-head comparison of biophysical characterization data revealed that the site-specific biotin and DIG conjugates demonstrated overall superior quality to biotin- and DIG-VHHA prepared using the conventional amine coupling method, and the performance of the ADA assay developed using site-specific biotin and DIG conjugates met all acceptance criteria. The approach described here can be applied to the production of other therapeutic-protein- or antibody-based critical reagents that are used to support ligand binding assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangdan Wang
- BioAnalytical Sciences, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Wenping Chang
- Department of Peptide Therapeutics, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Mehraban Khosraviani
- BioAnalytical Sciences, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Wilson Phung
- Department of Microchemistry, Proteomics, and Lipidomics, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Lingling Peng
- Department of Peptide Therapeutics, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Sivan Cohen
- BioAnalytical Sciences, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Benjamin T Andrews
- BioAnalytical Sciences, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Yonglian Sun
- Antibody Engineering, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Christopher W Davies
- Antibody Engineering, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - James T Koerber
- Antibody Engineering, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Jihong Yang
- BioAnalytical Sciences, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Aimin Song
- Department of Peptide Therapeutics, Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
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Reinau ME, Åsberg D. Characterization of antibody surface properties and selection of a diverse subset for development of a generic size-exclusion chromatography method. J Chromatogr A 2024; 1716:464652. [PMID: 38241898 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2024.464652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Aggregates are an important quality attribute for biotherapeutics because they can affect the safety and efficacy of the drug and they are therefore routinely monitored, mainly with size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). However, there is often a need to tailor a SEC method to a specific molecule. This study describes the development of a generic SEC method tested on 138 antibodies with the variable domains taken from clinical stage antibodies. We report on the discovery of a subset of 12 antibodies that represents the full range of physiochemical properties found in the 138 antibodies. This subset is shown to be an efficient and reliable test set when developing chromatographic methods for antibodies. An understanding of the nature of the analyte-stationary phase interactions was gained when using this set with its wide range of physiochemical properties. Highly hydrophobic antibodies interact strongly with some modern silica hybrid materials causing the elution time to increase significantly, while a hydrophilically modified hybrid surface showed highly reduced interactions for the hydrophobic antibodies. Highly hydrophilic antibodies, on the other hand, exhibited asymmetric peaks to a certain extent on all stationary phases, while the elution time was not affected. The developed SEC method was shown to have satisfactory performance in terms of linearity, repeatability, range, and accuracy and exhibit very narrow distributions of elution time and peak symmetry when testing the 138 antibodies indicating its generic performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marika E Reinau
- Global Research Technologies, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, 2760, Denmark
| | - Dennis Åsberg
- Global Research Technologies, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, 2760, Denmark.
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Gritti F, Meyyappan S. Physical origin of the peak tailing of monoclonal antibodies in size-exclusion chromatography using bio-compatible systems and columns. Anal Bioanal Chem 2024; 416:1281-1291. [PMID: 38236392 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-023-05119-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
The analysis of mixtures containing monoclonal antibody (mAb) (approximately 150 kDa molecular weight) and sub-unit impurities (approximately 100 kDa) is challenging, even when adopting the latest ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) columns (4.6 mm [Formula: see text] 150 mm coated hardware, 1.7 [Formula: see text]m 250 BEH[Formula: see text] Surface-modified Particles) and systems (ACQUITY[Formula: see text] UPLC[Formula: see text] I-class Bio Plus). The main issue still encountered is a persistent tail of the mAb peak. Here, the physical origin(s) of such peak tailing in size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) are investigated from both fundamental and practical approaches. Up to five relevant physical origins are analyzed: sample heterogeneity (glycoforms), UHPLC system dispersion, strong residual binding of the mAb to the SEC particles (via hydrophobic and/or electrostatic interactions) and to the stainless steel column/system hardware, slow escape kinetics of the mAb from the SEC particles, and flow heterogeneity caused by the non-ideal slurry packing of SEC columns. Experiments (testing sample heterogeneity, system dispersion, and strong residual interactions) and calculations (predicting the transient absorption/escape kinetics in a single SEC particle and the two-dimensional peak concentration profiles) altogether unambiguously demonstrate that the observed mAb peak tailing is caused primarily by the long-range velocity biases across the SEC column combined with the slow transverse dispersion of mAbs. Therefore, improvement in the resolution between mAb and sub-unit fragment impurities can only be achieved by increasing the column length, e.g., by applying recycling chromatography at acceptable pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrice Gritti
- Waters Corporation, Instrument/Core Research/Fundamental, Milford, MA, 01757, USA.
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Insights on further improving fast size exclusion chromatography separations of biopharmaceuticals using 2.1 millimetre column diameters. J Chromatogr A 2023; 1690:463810. [PMID: 36693293 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2023.463810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Recent trends in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries call for the miniaturization of size exclusion chromatography. The thought of such a future has been tantalizing but there are many practical and theoretical considerations that have impeded progress. Here, the capabilities of a narrow bore 2.1 mm ID SEC column have been studied and compared to reference 150 × 4.6 mm SEC columns when using UV detection. While our study reconfirms the importance of having very low system dispersion for SEC separations, it goes on to show that a 150 × 2.1 mm 1.7 µm particle SEC column can offer a balanced compromise of performance. Despite the fact that the 150 × 2.1 mm ID 1.7 µm column's intrinsic efficiency was not fully utilized, it still performed with an apparent efficiency similar to that of a 150 × 4.6 mm ID 2.5 µm column. Beyond this, our study provides insights on what more will need to be achieved to robustly establish low flow SEC separations. If SEC chromatographers aim to miniaturize sizing separations to 1 mm diameters or below, there is more work to do on chromatographic instruments and flow paths. In order for an instrument to be optimized for 1 mm ID SEC it would need to exhibit a system variance of less than 0.5 µL2.
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Hecht ES, Obiorah EC, Liu X, Morrison L, Shion H, Lauber M. Microflow size exclusion chromatography to preserve micromolar affinity complexes and achieve subunit separations for native state mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 2022; 1685:463638. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Duivelshof B, Zöldhegyi A, Guillarme D, Lauber M, Fekete S. Expediting the chromatographic analysis of COVID-19 antibody therapeutics with ultra-short columns, retention modeling and automated method development. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2022; 221:115039. [PMID: 36115204 PMCID: PMC9465490 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2022.115039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the emergency use authorization (EUA) of several new therapeutics and vaccines. Several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were among those authorized for use, and they have served a purpose to provide passive immunity and to help minimize dangerous secondary effects in at-risk and hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. With an EUA submission, scientific data on a drug candidate is often collected near simultaneously alongside drug development. In such a situation, there is little time to allow misguided method development nor time to wait on traditional turnaround times. We have taken this dilemma as a chance to propose new means to expediting the chromatographic characterization of protein therapeutics. To this end, we have combined the use of automated, systematic modeling and ultrashort LC columns to quickly optimize high throughput RP, IEX, HILIC and SEC separations for two COVID-19-related mAbs. The development and verification of these four complementary analytical methods required only 2 days of experimental work. In the end, one chromatographic analysis can be performed with a sub-2 min run time such that it is feasible to comprehensively characterize a COVID-19 mAb cocktail by 4 different profiling techniques within a 1-hour turnaround time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastiaan Duivelshof
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland (ISPSO), University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Davy Guillarme
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland (ISPSO), University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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