1
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Nishiumi H, Hirohata K, Fukuhara M, Matsushita A, Tsunaka Y, Rocafort MAV, Maruno T, Torisu T, Uchiyama S. Combined 100 keV Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Image Analysis Methods to Characterize the Wider Adeno-Associated Viral Products. J Pharm Sci 2024; 113:1804-1815. [PMID: 38570072 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2024.03.026] [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: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are effective vectors for gene therapy. However, AAV drug products are inevitably contaminated with empty particles (EP), which lack a genome, owing to limitations of the purification steps. EP contamination can reduce the transduction efficiency and induce immunogenicity. Therefore, it is important to remove EPs and to determine the ratio of full genome-containing AAV particles to empty particles (F/E ratio). However, most of the existing methods fail to reliably evaluate F/E ratios that are greater than 90 %. In this study, we developed two approaches based on the image analysis of cryo-electron micrographs to determine the F/E ratios of various AAV products. Using our developed convolutional neural network (CNN) and morphological analysis, we successfully calculated the F/E ratios of various AAV products and determined the slight differences in the F/E ratios of highly purified AAV products (purity > 95 %). In addition, the F/E ratios calculated by analyzing more than 1000 AAV particles had good correlations with theoretical F/E ratios. Furthermore, the CNN reliably determined the F/E ratio with a smaller number of AAV particles than morphological analysis. Therefore, combining 100 keV cryo-EM with the developed image analysis methods enables the assessment of a wide range of AAV products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruka Nishiumi
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Kiichi Hirohata
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Mitsuko Fukuhara
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; U-medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Aoba Matsushita
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yasuo Tsunaka
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Mark Allen Vergara Rocafort
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Takahiro Maruno
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; U-medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Torisu
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Susumu Uchiyama
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; U-medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
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2
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Greenblott DN, Johann F, Snell JR, Gieseler H, Calderon CP, Randolph TW. Features in Backgrounds of Microscopy Images Introduce Biases in Machine Learning Analyses. J Pharm Sci 2024; 113:1177-1189. [PMID: 38484874 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2024.03.003] [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: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Subvisible particles may be encountered throughout the processing of therapeutic protein formulations. Flow imaging microscopy (FIM) and backgrounded membrane imaging (BMI) are techniques commonly used to record digital images of these particles, which may be analyzed to provide particle size distributions, concentrations, and identities. Although both techniques record digital images of particles within a sample, FIM analyzes particles suspended in flowing liquids, whereas BMI records images of dry particles after collection by filtration onto a membrane. This study compared the performance of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in classifying images of subvisible particles recorded by both imaging techniques. Initially, CNNs trained on BMI images appeared to provide higher classification accuracies than those trained on FIM images. However, attribution analyses showed that classification predictions from CNNs trained on BMI images relied on features contributed by the membrane background, whereas predictions from CNNs trained on FIM features were based largely on features of the particles. Segmenting images to minimize the contributions from image backgrounds reduced the apparent accuracy of CNNs trained on BMI images but caused minimal reduction in the accuracy of CNNs trained on FIM images. Thus, the seemingly superior classification accuracy of CNNs trained on BMI images compared to FIM images was an artifact caused by subtle features in the backgrounds of BMI images. Our findings emphasize the importance of examining machine learning algorithms for image analysis with attribution methods to ensure the robustness of trained models and to mitigate potential influence of artifacts within training data sets.
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Affiliation(s)
- David N Greenblott
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, United States
| | - Florian Johann
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen 91058, Germany; Merck KGaA, Darmstadt 64293, Germany
| | | | - Henning Gieseler
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen 91058, Germany; GILYOS GmbH, Würzburg 97076, Germany
| | - Christopher P Calderon
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, United States; Ursa Analytics, Denver, CO 80212, United States
| | - Theodore W Randolph
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, United States.
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3
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Greenblott DN, Wood CV, Zhang J, Viza N, Chintala R, Calderon CP, Randolph TW. Supervised and unsupervised machine learning approaches for monitoring subvisible particles within an aluminum-salt adjuvanted vaccine formulation. Biotechnol Bioeng 2024; 121:1626-1641. [PMID: 38372650 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28671] [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: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Suspensions of protein antigens adsorbed to aluminum-salt adjuvants are used in many vaccines and require mixing during vial filling operations to prevent sedimentation. However, the mixing of vaccine formulations may generate undesirable particles that are difficult to detect against the background of suspended adjuvant particles. We simulated the mixing of a suspension containing a protein antigen adsorbed to an aluminum-salt adjuvant using a recirculating peristaltic pump and used flow imaging microscopy to record images of particles within the pumped suspensions. Supervised convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were used to analyze the images and create "fingerprints" of particle morphology distributions, allowing detection of new particles generated during pumping. These results were compared to those obtained from an unsupervised machine learning algorithm relying on variational autoencoders (VAEs) that were also used to detect new particles generated during pumping. Analyses of images conducted by applying both supervised CNNs and VAEs found that rates of generation of new particles were higher in aluminum-salt adjuvant suspensions containing protein antigen than placebo suspensions containing only adjuvant. Finally, front-face fluorescence measurements of the vaccine suspensions indicated changes in solvent exposure of tryptophan residues in the protein that occurred concomitantly with new particle generation during pumping.
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Affiliation(s)
- David N Greenblott
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | | | | | - Nelia Viza
- Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA
| | | | - Christopher P Calderon
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Ursa Analytics, Denver, Colorado, USA
| | - Theodore W Randolph
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
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4
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Lopez-Del Rio A, Pacios-Michelena A, Picart-Armada S, Garidel P, Nikels F, Kube S. Sub-Visible Particle Classification and Label Consistency Analysis for Flow-Imaging Microscopy Via Machine Learning Methods. J Pharm Sci 2024; 113:880-890. [PMID: 37924976 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2023.10.041] [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: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023]
Abstract
Sub-visible particles can be a quality concern in pharmaceutical products, especially parenteral preparations. To quantify and characterize these particles, liquid samples may be passed through a flow-imaging microscopy instrument that also generates images of each detected particle. Machine learning techniques have increasingly been applied to this kind of data to detect changes in experimental conditions or classify specific types of particles, primarily focusing on silicone oil. That technique generally requires manual labeling of particle images by subject matter experts, a time-consuming and complex task. In this study, we created artificial datasets of silicone oil, protein particles, and glass particles that mimicked complex datasets of particles found in biopharmaceutical products. We used unsupervised learning techniques to effectively describe particle composition by sample. We then trained independent one-class classifiers to detect specific particle populations: silicone oil and glass particles. We also studied the consistency of the particle labels used to evaluate these models. Our results show that one-class classifiers are a reasonable choice for handling heterogeneous flow-imaging microscopy data and that unsupervised learning can aid in the labeling process. However, we found agreement among experts to be rather low, especially for smaller particles (< 8 µm for our Micro-Flow Imaging data). Given the fact that particle label confidence is not usually reported in the literature, we recommend more careful assessment of this topic in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Lopez-Del Rio
- Pharmaceutical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss 88397, Federal Republic of Germany.
| | - Anabel Pacios-Michelena
- Analytical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss 88397, Federal Republic of Germany
| | - Sergio Picart-Armada
- Global Computational Biology and Digital Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss 88397, Federal Republic of Germany
| | - Patrick Garidel
- Pharmaceutical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss 88397, Federal Republic of Germany
| | - Felix Nikels
- Analytical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss 88397, Federal Republic of Germany
| | - Sebastian Kube
- Pharmaceutical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss 88397, Federal Republic of Germany.
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Dhillon AK, Sharma A, Yadav V, Singh R, Ahuja T, Barman S, Siddhanta S. Raman spectroscopy and its plasmon-enhanced counterparts: A toolbox to probe protein dynamics and aggregation. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. NANOMEDICINE AND NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY 2024; 16:e1917. [PMID: 37518952 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.1917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Protein unfolding and aggregation are often correlated with numerous diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and other debilitating neurological disorders. Such adverse events consist of a plethora of competing mechanisms, particularly interactions that control the stability and cooperativity of the process. However, it remains challenging to probe the molecular mechanism of protein dynamics such as aggregation, and monitor them in real-time under physiological conditions. Recently, Raman spectroscopy and its plasmon-enhanced counterparts, such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), have emerged as sensitive analytical tools that have the potential to perform molecular studies of functional groups and are showing significant promise in probing events related to protein aggregation. We summarize the fundamental working principles of Raman, SERS, and TERS as nondestructive, easy-to-perform, and fast tools for probing protein dynamics and aggregation. Finally, we highlight the utility of these techniques for the analysis of vibrational spectra of aggregation of proteins from various sources such as tissues, pathogens, food, biopharmaceuticals, and lastly, biological fouling to retrieve precise chemical information, which can be potentially translated to practical applications and point-of-care (PoC) devices. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arti Sharma
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Vikas Yadav
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Ruchi Singh
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Tripti Ahuja
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Sanmitra Barman
- Center for Advanced Materials and Devices (CAMD), BML Munjal University, Haryana, India
| | - Soumik Siddhanta
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
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6
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Kurinomaru T, Takeda K, Onaka M, Kuruma Y, Takahata K, Takahashi K, Sakurai H, Sasaki A, Noda N, Honda S, Shibuya R, Ikeda T, Okada R, Torisu T, Uchiyama S. Optimization of Flow Imaging Microscopy Setting Using Spherical Beads with Optical Properties Similar to Those of Biopharmaceuticals. J Pharm Sci 2023; 112:3248-3255. [PMID: 37813302 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2023.10.007] [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: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Flow imaging microscopy (FIM) is widely used to characterize biopharmaceutical subvisible particles (SVPs). The segmentation threshold, which defines the boundary between the particle and the background based on pixel intensity, should be properly set for accurate SVP quantification. However, segmentation thresholds are often subjectively and empirically set, potentially leading to variations in measurements across instruments and operators. In the present study, we developed an objective method to optimize the FIM segmentation threshold using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) beads with a refractive index similar to that of biomolecules. Among several candidate particles that were evaluated, 2.5-µm PMMA beads were the most reliable in size and number, suggesting that the PMMA bead size analyzed by FIM could objectively be used to determine the segmentation threshold for SVP measurements. The PMMA bead concentrations measured by FIM were highly consistent with the indicative concentrations, whereas the PMMA bead size analyzed by FIM decreased with increasing segmentation threshold. The optimal segmentation threshold where the analyzed size was closest to the indicative size differed between an instrument with a black-and-white camera and that with a color camera. Inter-instrument differences in SVP concentrations in acid-stressed recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) and protein aggregates were successfully minimized by setting an optimized segmentation threshold specific to the instrument. These results reveal that PMMA beads can aid in determining a more appropriate segmentation threshold to evaluate biopharmaceutical SVPs using FIM.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Megumi Onaka
- U-Medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yuki Kuruma
- National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan
| | - Keiji Takahata
- National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan
| | - Kayori Takahashi
- National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan
| | - Hiromu Sakurai
- National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan
| | - Akira Sasaki
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan
| | - Naohiro Noda
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan
| | - Shinya Honda
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan
| | - Risa Shibuya
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tomohiko Ikeda
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Rio Okada
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Torisu
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Susumu Uchiyama
- U-Medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
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7
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Fedorowicz FM, Chalus P, Kirschenbühler K, Drewes S, Koulov A. Image Classification of Degraded Polysorbate, Protein and Silicone Oil Sub-Visible Particles Detected by Flow-Imaging Microscopy in Biopharmaceuticals Using a Convolutional Neural Network Model. J Pharm Sci 2023; 112:3099-3108. [PMID: 37422283 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2023.07.003] [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: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Degradation of polysorbates in biopharmaceutical formulations can induce the formation of sub-visible particles (SvPs) in the form of free-fatty acids (FFAs) and potentially protein aggregates. Flow-imaging microscopy (FIM) is one of the most common techniques for enumerating and characterizing the SvPs, allowing for collection of image data of the SvPs in the size ranges of two to several hundred micrometers. The vast amounts of data obtained with FIM do not allow for rapid manual characterization by an experienced analyst and can be ambiguous. In this work, we present the application of a custom convolutional neural network (CNN) for classification of SvP images of FFAs, proteinaceous particles and silicon oil droplets, by FIM. The network was then used to predict the composition of artificially pooled test samples of unknown and labeled data with varying compositions. Minor misclassifications were observed between the FFAs and proteinaceous particles, considered tolerable for application to pharmaceutical development. The network is considered to be suitable for fast and robust classification of the most common SvPs found during FIM analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filip M Fedorowicz
- Lonza AG, Drug Product Services, Hochbergerstrasse 60G, 4057 Basel, Switzerland; Current affiliation: Clear Solutions Laboratories AG, Mattenstrasse 22, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Pascal Chalus
- Lonza AG, Drug Product Services, Hochbergerstrasse 60G, 4057 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Kyra Kirschenbühler
- Lonza AG, Drug Product Services, Hochbergerstrasse 60G, 4057 Basel, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sarah Drewes
- Mathworks GmbH, Weihenstephaner Str. 6, 81673 München, Germany
| | - Atanas Koulov
- Lonza AG, Drug Product Services, Hochbergerstrasse 60G, 4057 Basel, Switzerland; Current affiliation: Clear Solutions Laboratories AG, Mattenstrasse 22, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
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8
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Bassett R, Mehta D, Thompson S, Al-Imarah E. Novel machine learning models for flow imaging microscopy sub-visible particle classification in protein formulations. Int J Pharm 2023:123192. [PMID: 37402441 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the particulate content of formulated drug products is essential for ensuring patient safety. In particular, it is critical to assess the presence of aggregated proteins or extraneous particles (e.g. fibres) that pose potential dangers. Additionally, it is useful to be able to distinguish non-proteinaceous particles, such as silicone oil droplets that commonly occur in formulations stored in pre-filled syringes. Standard particle counting methods (e.g. light obscuration) provide only total numbers of particles of a given size, but provide no mechanism for particle classification. Significant recent work has focused on the use of flow imaging microscopy to enable simultaneous classification and counting of particles using machine learning (ML) models including convolutional neural networks (CNN). In this paper we expand upon this theme by exploring techniques for achieving high prediction accuracy when the size of the labeled dataset used for model training is limited. We demonstrate that maximum performance can be achieved by combining multiple techniques such as data augmentation, transfer learning, and novel (to this field) models combining imaging and tabular data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Bassett
- CSL Innovation, 655 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, 3000, VIC, Australia.
| | - Dharmini Mehta
- CSL Innovation, 655 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, 3000, VIC, Australia
| | - Scott Thompson
- CSL Innovation, 655 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, 3000, VIC, Australia
| | - Emad Al-Imarah
- CSL Innovation, 655 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, 3000, VIC, Australia
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9
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Salami H, Wang S, Skomski D. Evaluation of a Self-Supervised Machine Learning Method for Screening of Particulate Samples: A Case Study in Liquid Formulations. J Pharm Sci 2023; 112:771-778. [PMID: 36240862 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Imaging is commonly used as a characterization method in the pharmaceuticals industry, including for quantifying subvisible particles in solid and liquid formulations. Extracting information beyond particle size, such as classifying morphological subpopulations, requires some type of image analysis method. Suggested methods to classify particles have been based on pre-determined morphological features or use supervised training of convolutional neural networks to learn image representations in relation to ground truth labels. Complications arising from highly complex morphologies, unforeseen classes, and time-consuming preparation of ground truth labels, are some of the challenges faced by these methods. In this work, we evaluate the application of a self-supervised contrastive learning method in studying particle images from therapeutic solutions. Unlike with supervised training, this approach does not require ground truth labels and representations are learned by comparing particle images and their augmentations. This method provides a fast and easily implementable tool of coarse screening for morphological attribute assessment. Furthermore, our analysis shows that in cases with relatively balanced datasets, a small subset of an image dataset is sufficient to train a convolutional neural network encoder capable of extracting useful image representations. It is also demonstrated that particle classes typically observed in protein solutions administered by pre-filled syringes emerge as separated clusters in the encoder's embedding space, facilitating performing tasks such as training weakly-supervised classifiers or identifying the presence of new subpopulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hossein Salami
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave., Rahway, NJ 07065, USA
| | - Shubing Wang
- Department of Biometrics Research, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA
| | - Daniel Skomski
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave., Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
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10
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Poozesh S, Cannavò F, Manikwar P. Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis of Micro-Flow Imaging for Sub-Visible Particle Measurements Using Artificial Neural Network. Pharm Res 2023; 40:721-733. [PMID: 36697932 DOI: 10.1007/s11095-023-03474-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE During biopharmaceutical drug manufacturing, storage, and distribution, proteins in both liquid and solid dosage forms go through various processes that could lead to protein aggregation. The extent of aggregation in the sub-micron range can be measured by analyzing a liquid or post-reconstituted powder sample using Micro-Flow Imaging (MFI) technique. MFI is widely used in biopharmaceutical industries due to its high sensitivity in detecting and analyzing particle size distribution. However, the MFI's sensitivity to various factors makes accurate measurement challenging. Therefore, in light of the inherent variability of the method, this work aims to explore the capabilities of an adopted coupled sensitivity analysis and machine learning algorithm to quantify the influencing factors on the formed sub-visible particles and method variability. METHODS The proposed algorithm consists of two interconnected components, namely a surrogate model with a neural network and a sensitivity analyzer. A machine learning tool based on artificial neural networks (ANN) is constructed with MFI data. The best fit with an optimized configuration is found. Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis is performed using this network as the surrogate model to understand the impacts of input parameters on MFI data. RESULTS Results reveal the most impactful reconstitution preparation factors and others that are masked by the instrument variabilities. It is shown that instrument inaccuracy is a function of size category, with higher variabilities associated with larger size ranges. CONCLUSION Utilizing this tool while assessing the sensitivity of outputs to various parameters, measurement variabilities for analytical characterization tests can be quantified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadegh Poozesh
- Dosage Form Design and Development, BioPharmaceuticals Development, R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
| | - Flavio Cannavò
- Istituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E Vulcanologia, Sezione Di Catania-Osservatorio Etneo, Piazza Roma, 2-95125, Catania, Italy
| | - Prakash Manikwar
- Dosage Form Design and Development, BioPharmaceuticals Development, R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg, MD, USA
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11
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Nishiumi H, Deiringer N, Krause N, Yoneda S, Torisu T, Menzen T, Friess W, Uchiyama S. Utility of Three Flow Imaging Microscopy Instruments for Image Analysis in Evaluating four Types of Subvisible Particle in Biopharmaceuticals. J Pharm Sci 2022; 111:3017-3028. [PMID: 35948157 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Subvisible particles (SVPs) are a critical quality attribute of parenteral and ophthalmic products. United States Pharmacopeia recommends the characterizations of SVPs which are classified into intrinsic, extrinsic, and inherent particles. Flow imaging microscopy (FIM) is useful as an orthogonal method in both the quantification and classification of SVPs because FIM instruments provide particle images. In addition to the conventionally used FlowCam (Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies) and Micro-Flow Imaging (Bio-Techne) instruments, the iSpect DIA-10 (Shimadzu) instrument has recently been released. The three instruments have similar detection principles but different optical settings and image processing, which may lead to different results of the quantification and classification of SVPs based on the information from particle images. The present study compares four types of SVP (protein aggregates, silicone oil droplets, and surrogates for solid free-fatty-acid particles, milled-lipid particles, and sprayed-lipid particles) to compare the results of size distributions and classification abilities obtained using morphological features and a deep-learning approach. Although the three FIM instruments were effective in classifying the four types of SVP through convolutional neural network analysis, there was no agreement on the size distribution for the same protein aggregate solution, suggesting that using the classifiers of the FIM instruments could result in different evaluations of SVPs in the field of biopharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruka Nishiumi
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Natalie Deiringer
- Department of Pharmacy; Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany
| | - Nils Krause
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Saki Yoneda
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Torisu
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tim Menzen
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Friess
- Department of Pharmacy; Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany
| | - Susumu Uchiyama
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; U-medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
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12
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Iwata H, Hayashi Y, Hasegawa A, Terayama K, Okuno Y. Classification of scanning electron microscope images of pharmaceutical excipients using deep convolutional neural networks with transfer learning. Int J Pharm X 2022; 4:100135. [PMID: 36325273 PMCID: PMC9619299 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpx.2022.100135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are image analysis techniques that have been applied to image classification in various fields. In this study, we applied a CNN to classify scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of pharmaceutical raw material powders to determine if a CNN can evaluate particle morphology. We tested 10 pharmaceutical excipients with widely different particle morphologies. SEM images for each excipient were acquired and divided into training, validation, and test sets. Classification models were constructed by applying transfer learning to pretrained CNN models such as VGG16 and ResNet50. The results of a 5-fold cross-validation showed that the classification accuracy of the CNN model was sufficiently high using either pretrained model and that the type of excipient could be classified with high accuracy. The results suggest that the CNN model can detect differences in particle morphology, such as particle size, shape, and surface condition. By applying Grad-CAM to the constructed CNN model, we succeeded in finding particularly important regions in the particle image of the excipients. CNNs have been found to have the potential to be applied to the identification and characterization of raw material powders for pharmaceutical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroaki Iwata
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Hayashi
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan,Pharmaceutical Technology Division, Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 205-1, Shimoumezawa Namerikawa-shi, Toyama 936-0857, Japan,Correspondence to: Y. Hayashi, Pharmaceutical Technology Division, Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; 205-1, Shimoumezawa Namerikawa-shi, Toyama 936-0857, Japan.
| | - Aki Hasegawa
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Kei Terayama
- Graduate School of Medical Life Science, Yokohama City University, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan
| | - Yasushi Okuno
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan,RIKEN Center for Computational Science, Kobe 650-0047, Japan,Correspondence to: Y. Okuno, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
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13
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Thite NG, Ghazvini S, Wallace N, Feldman N, Calderon CP, Randolph TW. Machine Learning Analysis Provides Insight into Mechanisms of Protein Particle Formation Inside Containers During Mechanical Agitation. J Pharm Sci 2022; 111:2730-2744. [PMID: 35835184 PMCID: PMC9481670 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.06.017] [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: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Container choice can influence particle generation within protein formulations. Incompatibility between proteins and containers can manifest as increased particle concentrations, shifts in particle size distributions and changes in particle morphology distributions. In this study, flow imaging microscopy (FIM) combined with machine learning-based goodness-of-fit hypothesis testing algorithms were used in accelerated stability studies to investigate the impact of containers on particle formation. Containers in four major container categories subdivided into eleven container types were filled with monoclonal antibody formulations and agitated with and without headspace, producing subvisible particles. Digital images of the particles were recorded using flow imaging microscopy and analyzed with machine learning algorithms. Particle morphology distributions depended on container category and type, revealing differences that would not have been obvious by analysis of particle concentrations or container surface characteristics alone. Additionally, the algorithm was used to compare morphologies of particles generated in containers against those generated using isolated stresses at air-liquid and container-air-liquid interfaces. These comparisons showed that the morphology distributions of particles formed during agitation most closely resemble distributions that result from exposure of proteins to moving triple interface lines at points where container-air-liquid interfaces intersect. The approach described here can be used to identify dominant causes of particle generation due to protein-container interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nidhi G Thite
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
| | - Saba Ghazvini
- AstraZeneca Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, United States
| | | | - Naomi Feldman
- AstraZeneca Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, United States
| | - Christopher P Calderon
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States; Ursa Analytics, Denver, CO 80212, United States
| | - Theodore W Randolph
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States.
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14
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Puranik A, Dandekar P, Jain R. Exploring the potential of machine learning for more efficient development and production of biopharmaceuticals. Biotechnol Prog 2022; 38:e3291. [PMID: 35918873 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Principles of Industry 4.0 direct us to predict how pharmaceutical operations and regulations may exist with automation, digitization, artificial intelligence (AI), and real time data acquisition. Machine learning (ML), a sub-discipline of AI, involves the use of statistical tools to extract the desired information either through understanding the underlying patterns in the information or by development of mathematical relationships among the critical process parameters (CPPs) and critical quality attributes (CQAs) of biopharmaceuticals. ML is still in its infancy for directly supporting the quality-by-design based development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. However, adoption of ML-based models in place of conventional multi-variate-data-analysis (MVDA) is increasing with the accumulation of large-scale data. This has been majorly contributed by the real-time monitoring of process variables and quality attributes of products through the implementation of process analytical technology in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. All aspects of healthcare, from drug design to product distribution, are complex and multidimensional. Thus, ML-based approaches are being applied to achieve sophistication, accuracy, flexibility and agility in all these areas. This review discusses the potential of ML for addressing the complex issues in diverse areas of biopharmaceutical development, such as biopharmaceuticals design and assessment of early stage development, upstream and downstream process development, analysis, characterization and prediction of post translational modifications (PTMs), formulation and stability studies. Moreover, the challenges in acquisition, cleaning and structuring the bioprocess data, which is one of the major hurdles in implementation of ML in biopharma industry, have also been discussed. Regulatory perspectives on implementation of AI/ML in the biopharma sector have also been briefly discussed. This article is a bird's eye view on the recent developments and applications of ML in overcoming the challenges for adopting "Industry - 4.0" in the biopharma industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amita Puranik
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai, India
| | - Prajakta Dandekar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai, India
| | - Ratnesh Jain
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai, India
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15
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Shibata H, Terabe M, Shibano Y, Saitoh S, Takasugi T, Hayashi Y, Okabe S, Yamaguchi Y, Yasukawa H, Suetomo H, Miyanabe K, Ohbayashi N, Akimaru M, Saito S, Ito D, Nakano A, Kojima S, Miyahara Y, Sasaki K, Maruno T, Noda M, Kiyoshi M, Harazono A, Torisu T, Uchiyama S, Ishii-Watabe A. A Collaborative Study on the Classification of Silicone Oil Droplets and Protein Particles Using Flow Imaging Method. J Pharm Sci 2022; 111:2745-2757. [PMID: 35839866 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we conducted a collaborative study on the classification between silicone oil droplets and protein particles detected using the flow imaging (FI) method toward proposing a standardized classifier/model. We compared four approaches, including a classification filter composed of particle characteristic parameters, principal component analysis, decision tree, and convolutional neural network in the performance of the developed classifier/model. Finally, the points to be considered were summarized for measurement using the FI method, and for establishing the classifier/model using machine learning to differentiate silicone oil droplets and protein particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroko Shibata
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan.
| | - Masahiro Terabe
- Pharmaceutical Technology Division, Analytical Development Department, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., 5-1 Ukima, 5-chome, Kita-ku, Tokyo 115-8543 Japan
| | - Yuriko Shibano
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Satoshi Saitoh
- Pharmaceutical Technology Division, Analytical Development Department, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., 5-1 Ukima, 5-chome, Kita-ku, Tokyo 115-8543 Japan
| | - Tomohiro Takasugi
- Analytical Research Laboratories, Pharmaceutical Technology, Astellas Pharma. Inc., 5-2-3 Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 300-2698, Japan
| | - Yu Hayashi
- Analytical Research Laboratories, Pharmaceutical Technology, Astellas Pharma. Inc., 5-2-3 Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 300-2698, Japan
| | - Shinji Okabe
- Research Division, CMC Development Research, Formulation Research Unit, Formulation Development, JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., 2-2-9 Murotani, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2241, Japan
| | - Yuka Yamaguchi
- Research Division, CMC Development Research, Formulation Research Unit, Formulation Development, JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., 2-2-9 Murotani, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2241, Japan
| | - Hidehito Yasukawa
- Research Division, CMC Development Research, Formulation Research Unit, Formulation Development, JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., 2-2-9 Murotani, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2241, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Suetomo
- Bio Process Research and Development Laboratories, Production Division, Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd., 100-1, Hagiwara-machi, Takasaki, Gunma 370-0013, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Miyanabe
- CMC Regulatory and Analytical R&D., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 1-1, Sakurai 3-chome, Shimamoto-cho, Mishima-gun, Osaka, 618-8585, Japan
| | - Naomi Ohbayashi
- Pharmaceutical Research Center, Formulation Research Lab., Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., 788 Kayama, Odawara, Kanagawa, 250-0852, Japan
| | - Michiko Akimaru
- Analytical & Quality Evaluation Research Laboratories, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., 1-12-1, Shinomiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 254-0014, Japan
| | - Shuntaro Saito
- Analytical & Quality Evaluation Research Laboratories, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., 1-12-1, Shinomiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 254-0014, Japan
| | - Daisuke Ito
- Japan Blood Products Organization, 1007-31 Izumisawa, Chitose, Hokkaido, 066-8610, Japan
| | - Atsushi Nakano
- Japan Blood Products Organization, 1007-31 Izumisawa, Chitose, Hokkaido, 066-8610, Japan
| | - Shota Kojima
- Pharmaceutical Laboratory, Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 342 Gensuke, Fujieda, Shizuoka, 426-8640, Japan
| | - Yuya Miyahara
- CMC Modality Technology Laboratories, Production Technology & Supply Chain Management Division, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, 7473-2, Onoda, Sanyoonoda-shi, Yamaguchi, 756-0054 Japan
| | - Kenji Sasaki
- CMC Modality Technology Laboratories, Production Technology & Supply Chain Management Division, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, 7473-2, Onoda, Sanyoonoda-shi, Yamaguchi, 756-0054 Japan
| | | | - Masanori Noda
- U-Medico Inc., 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Masato Kiyoshi
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
| | - Akira Harazono
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Torisu
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Susumu Uchiyama
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Akiko Ishii-Watabe
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
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16
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Al-madani H, Du H, Yao J, Peng H, Yao C, Jiang B, Wu A, Yang F. Living Sample Viability Measurement Methods from Traditional Assays to Nanomotion. BIOSENSORS 2022; 12:453. [PMID: 35884256 PMCID: PMC9313330 DOI: 10.3390/bios12070453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Living sample viability measurement is an extremely common process in medical, pharmaceutical, and biological fields, especially drug pharmacology and toxicology detection. Nowadays, there are a number of chemical, optical, and mechanical methods that have been developed in response to the growing demand for simple, rapid, accurate, and reliable real-time living sample viability assessment. In parallel, the development trend of viability measurement methods (VMMs) has increasingly shifted from traditional assays towards the innovative atomic force microscope (AFM) oscillating sensor method (referred to as nanomotion), which takes advantage of the adhesion of living samples to an oscillating surface. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review of the common VMMs, laying emphasis on their benefits and drawbacks, as well as evaluating the potential utility of VMMs. In addition, we discuss the nanomotion technique, focusing on its applications, sample attachment protocols, and result display methods. Furthermore, the challenges and future perspectives on nanomotion are commented on, mainly emphasizing scientific restrictions and development orientations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamzah Al-madani
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hui Du
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- College of Materials Sciences and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Junlie Yao
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- College of Materials Sciences and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hao Peng
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- College of Materials Sciences and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Chenyang Yao
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- College of Materials Sciences and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Bo Jiang
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
| | - Aiguo Wu
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory, Huizhou 516000, China
| | - Fang Yang
- Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Ningbo 315201, China; (H.A.-m.); (H.D.); (J.Y.); (H.P.); (C.Y.); (B.J.)
- Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory, Huizhou 516000, China
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17
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Transfer Learning Analysis for Subvisible Particle Flow Imaging of Pharmaceutical Formulations. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/app12125843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Subvisible particles are an ongoing problem in biotherapeutic injectable pharmaceutical formulations, and their identification is an important prerequisite for tracing them back to their source and optimizing the process. Flow imaging microscopy (FIM) is a favored imaging technique, mainly because of its ability to achieve rapid batch imaging of subvisible particles in solution with excellent imaging quality. This study used VGG16 after transfer learning to identify subvisible particle images acquired using FlowCam. We manually prepared standards for seven classes of particles, acquired the image information through FlowCam, and fed the images over 5 µm into VGG16 consisting of a convolutional base of VGG16 pre-trained with ImageNet data and a custom classifier for training. An accuracy of 97.51% was obtained for the test set data. The study also demonstrated that the recognition method using transfer learning outperforms machine learning methods based on morphological parameters in terms of accuracy, and has a significant training speed advantage over scratch-trained CNN. The combination of transfer learning and FIM images is expected to provide a general and accurate data-analysis method for identifying subvisible particles.
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18
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Calderon CP, Levačić AK, Helbig C, Wuchner K, Menzen T. Combining Machine Learning and Backgrounded Membrane Imaging: A Case Study in Comparing and Classifying Different Types of Biopharmaceutically Relevant Particles. J Pharm Sci 2022; 111:2422-2434. [PMID: 35661758 PMCID: PMC9391316 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
This study investigates how backgrounded membrane imaging (BMI) can be used in combination with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in order to quantitatively and qualitatively study subvisible particles in both protein biopharmaceuticals and samples containing synthetic model particles. BMI requires low sample volumes and avoids many technical complications associated with imaging particles in solution, e.g., air bubble interference, low refractive index contrast between solution and particles of interest, etc. Hence, BMI is an attractive technique for characterizing particles at various stages of drug product development. However, to date, the morphological information encoded in brightfield BMI images has scarcely been utilized. Here we show that CNN based methods can be useful in extracting morphological information from (label-free) brightfield BMI particle images. Images of particles from biopharmaceutical products and from laboratory prepared samples were analyzed with two types of CNN based approaches: traditional supervised classifiers and a recently proposed fingerprinting analysis method. We demonstrate that the CNN based methods are able to efficiently leverage BMI data to distinguish between particles comprised of different proteins, various fatty acids (representing polysorbate degradation related particles), and protein surrogates (NIST ETFE reference material) only based on BMI images. The utility of using the fingerprinting method for comparing morphological differences and similarities of particles formed in distinct drug products and/or laboratory prepared samples is further demonstrated and discussed through three case studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher P Calderon
- Ursa Analytics, Inc., Denver, CO 80212; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States.
| | - Ana Krhač Levačić
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Constanze Helbig
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Klaus Wuchner
- Janssen Research and Development, DPDS BTDS Analytical Development, Hochstr. 201, 8200 Schaffhausen, Switzerland
| | - Tim Menzen
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
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19
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Testing Precision Limits of Neural Network-Based Quality Control Metrics in High-Throughput Digital Microscopy. Pharm Res 2022; 39:263-279. [DOI: 10.1007/s11095-021-03130-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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20
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Linkuvienė V, Ross EL, Crawford L, Weiser SE, Man D, Kay S, Kolhe P, Carpenter JF. Effects of transportation of IV bags containing protein formulations via hospital pneumatic tube system: Particle characterization by multiple methods. J Pharm Sci 2022; 111:1024-1039. [DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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21
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Particles in Biopharmaceutical Formulations, Part 2: An Update on Analytical Techniques and Applications for Therapeutic Proteins, Viruses, Vaccines and Cells. J Pharm Sci 2021; 111:933-950. [PMID: 34919969 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Particles in biopharmaceutical formulations remain a hot topic in drug product development. With new product classes emerging it is crucial to discriminate particulate active pharmaceutical ingredients from particulate impurities. Technical improvements, new analytical developments and emerging tools (e.g., machine learning tools) increase the amount of information generated for particles. For a proper interpretation and judgment of the generated data a thorough understanding of the measurement principle, suitable application fields and potential limitations and pitfalls is required. Our review provides a comprehensive overview of novel particle analysis techniques emerging in the last decade for particulate impurities in therapeutic protein formulations (protein-related, excipient-related and primary packaging material-related), as well as particulate biopharmaceutical formulations (virus particles, virus-like particles, lipid nanoparticles and cell-based medicinal products). In addition, we review the literature on applications, describe specific analytical approaches and illustrate advantages and drawbacks of currently available techniques for particulate biopharmaceutical formulations.
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22
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Shibata H, Harazono A, Kiyoshi M, Ishii-Watabe A. Quantitative Evaluation of Insoluble Particulate Matters in Therapeutic Protein Injections Using Light Obscuration and Flow Imaging Methods. J Pharm Sci 2021; 111:648-654. [PMID: 34619153 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.09.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Flow imaging (FI) has emerged as a powerful tool to evaluate insoluble particles derived from protein aggregates as an orthogonal method to light obscuration (LO). However, few reports directly compare the FI and LO method in the size and number of protein particles in commercially available therapeutic protein injections. In this study, we measured the number of insoluble particles in several therapeutic protein injections using both FI and LO, and characterized these particles to compare the analytical performance of the methods. The particle counts measured using FI were much higher than those measured using LO, and the difference depended on the products or features of particles. Some products contained a large number of transparent and elongated particles, which could escape detection using LO. Our results also suggested that the LO method underestimates the size and number of silicone oil droplets in prefilled syringe products compared to the FI method. The count of particles ≥10 μm in size in one product measured using FI exceeded the criteria (6000 counts per container) defined in the compendial particulate matter test using the LO method. Thus precaution should be taken when setting the acceptance criteria of specification tests using the FI method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroko Shibata
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, Tonomachi 3-25-26, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan.
| | - Akira Harazono
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, Tonomachi 3-25-26, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
| | - Masato Kiyoshi
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, Tonomachi 3-25-26, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
| | - Akiko Ishii-Watabe
- Division of Biological Chemistry and Biologicals, National Institute of Health Sciences, Tonomachi 3-25-26, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
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Umar M, Krause N, Hawe A, Simmel F, Menzen T. Towards quantification and differentiation of protein aggregates and silicone oil droplets in the low micrometer and submicrometer size range by using oil-immersion flow imaging microscopy and convolutional neural networks. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2021; 169:97-102. [PMID: 34597817 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Biopharmaceutical product characterization benefits from the quantification and differentiation of unwanted protein aggregates and silicone oil droplets to support risk assessment and control strategies as part of the development. Flow imaging microscopy is successfully applied to differentiate the two impurities in the size range larger than about 5 µm based on their morphological appearance. In our study we applied the combination of oil-immersion flow imaging microscopy and convolutional neural networks to extend the size range below 5 µm. It allowed to differentiate and quantify heat stressed therapeutic monoclonal antibody aggregates from artificially generated silicone oil droplets with misclassification rates of about 10% in the size range between 0.3 and 5 µm. By comparing the misclassifications across the tested size range, particles in the low submicron size range were particularly difficult to differentiate as their morphological appearance becomes very similar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Umar
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstraße 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Nils Krause
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstraße 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Andrea Hawe
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstraße 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Friedrich Simmel
- Technical University of Munich, Physics Department, Am Coulombwall 4 a, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Tim Menzen
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstraße 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
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24
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Grabarek AD, Jiskoot W, Hawe A, Pike-Overzet K, Menzen T. Forced degradation of cell-based medicinal products guided by flow imaging microscopy: Explorative studies with Jurkat cells. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2021; 167:38-47. [PMID: 34274457 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Cell-based medicinal products (CBMPs) offer ground-breaking opportunities to treat diseases with limited or no therapeutic options. However, the intrinsic complexity of CBMPs results in great challenges with respect to analytical characterization and stability assessment. In our study, we submitted Jurkat cell suspensions to forced degradation studies mimicking conditions to which CBMPs might be exposed from procurement of cells to administration of the product. Flow imaging microscopy assisted by machine learning was applied for determination of cell viability and concentration, and quantification of debris particles. Additionally, orthogonal cell characterization techniques were used. Thawing of cells at 5 °C was detrimental to cell viability and resulted in high numbers of debris particles, in contrast to thawing at 37 °C or 20 °C which resulted in better stability. After freezing of cell suspensions at -18 °C in presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a DMSO concentration of 2.5% (v/v) showed low stabilizing properties, whereas 5% or 10% was protective. Horizontal shaking of cell suspensions did not affect cell viability, but led to a reduction in cell concentration. Fetal bovine serum (10% [v/v]) protected the cells during shaking. In conclusion, forced degradation studies with application of orthogonal analytical characterization methods allow for CBMP stability assessment and formulation screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Grabarek
- Coriolis Pharma, Fraunhoferstraße 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, the Netherlands
| | - W Jiskoot
- Coriolis Pharma, Fraunhoferstraße 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, the Netherlands.
| | - A Hawe
- Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, the Netherlands
| | - K Pike-Overzet
- Department of Immunology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - T Menzen
- Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, the Netherlands.
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25
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Klijn ME, Hubbuch J. Application of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light imaging in protein-based biopharmaceutical formulation characterization and development studies. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2021; 165:319-336. [PMID: 34052429 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Imaging is increasingly more utilized as analytical technology in biopharmaceutical formulation research, with applications ranging from subvisible particle characterization to thermal stability screening and residual moisture analysis. This review offers a comprehensive overview of analytical imaging for scientists active in biopharmaceutical formulation research and development, where it presents the unique information provided by the ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), and infrared (IR) sections in the electromagnetic spectrum. The main body of this review consists of an outline of UV, Vis, and IR imaging techniques for several (bio)physical properties that are commonly determined during protein-based biopharmaceutical formulation characterization and development studies. The review concludes with a future perspective of applied imaging within the field of biopharmaceutical formulation research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke E Klijn
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, Delft 2629 HZ, the Netherlands.
| | - Jürgen Hubbuch
- Institute of Engineering in Life Sciences, Section IV: Biomolecular Separation Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Fritz-Haber-Weg 2, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
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26
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Machine Learning and Accelerated Stress Approaches to Differentiate Potential Causes of Aggregation in Polyclonal Antibody Formulations During Shipping. J Pharm Sci 2021; 110:2743-2752. [PMID: 33647275 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.02.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Therapeutic proteins are among the most widely prescribed medications, with wide distribution and complex supply chains. Shipping exposes protein formulations to stresses that can trigger aggregation, although the exact mechanism(s) responsible for aggregation are unknown. To better understand how shipping causes aggregation, we compared populations of aggregates that were formed in a polyclonal antibody formulation during live shipping studies to populations observed in accelerated stability studies designed to mimic both the sporadic high g-force and continuous low g-force stresses encountered during shipping. Additionally, we compared the effects on aggregation levels generated in two types of secondary packaging, one of which was designed to mitigate the effects of large g-force stresses. Aggregation was quantified using fluorescence intensity of 4,4'-dianilino-1,1'-binaphthyl-5,5'-disulfonic acid (bis-ANS) dye, size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SECHPLC), and flow imaging microscopy (FIM). FIM was also combined with machine learning methods to analyze particle morphology distributions. These comparisons revealed that the morphology distributions of aggregates formed during live shipping resemble distributions that result from low g-force events, but not those observed following high g-force events, suggesting that low g-force stresses play a predominant role in shipping-induced aggregation.
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27
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Krause N, Kuhn S, Frotscher E, Nikels F, Hawe A, Garidel P, Menzen T. Oil-Immersion Flow Imaging Microscopy for Quantification and Morphological Characterization of Submicron Particles in Biopharmaceuticals. AAPS JOURNAL 2021; 23:13. [PMID: 33398482 DOI: 10.1208/s12248-020-00547-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Flow imaging microscopy (FIM) is widely used to analyze subvisible particles starting from 2 μm in biopharmaceuticals. Recently, an oil-immersion FIM system emerged, the FlowCam Nano, designed to enable the characterization of particle sizes even below 2 μm. The aim of our study was to evaluate oil-immersion FIM (by using FlowCam Nano) in comparison to microfluidic resistive pulse sensing and resonant mass measurement for sizing and counting of particles in the submicron range. Polystyrene beads, a heat-stressed monoclonal antibody formulation and a silicone oil emulsion, were measured to assess the performance on biopharmaceutical relevant samples, as well as the ability to distinguish particle types based on instrument-derived morphological parameters. The determination of particle sizes and morphologies suffers from inaccuracies due to a low image contrast of small particles and light-scattering effects. The ill-defined measured volume impairs an accurate concentration determination. Nevertheless, FlowCam Nano in its current design complements the limited toolbox of submicron particle analysis of biopharmaceuticals by providing particle images in a size range that was previously not accessible with commercial FIM instruments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils Krause
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Sebastian Kuhn
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Birkendorfer Str. 65, 88397, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Erik Frotscher
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Birkendorfer Str. 65, 88397, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Felix Nikels
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Birkendorfer Str. 65, 88397, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Andrea Hawe
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Patrick Garidel
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Birkendorfer Str. 65, 88397, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Tim Menzen
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152, Martinsried, Germany.
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28
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Deiringer N, Haase C, Wieland K, Zahler S, Haisch C, Friess W. Finding the Needle in the Haystack: High-Resolution Techniques for Characterization of Mixed Protein Particles Containing Shed Silicone Rubber Particles Generated During Pumping. J Pharm Sci 2020; 110:2093-2104. [PMID: 33307040 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2020] [Revised: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
During the manufacturing process of biopharmaceuticals, peristaltic pumps are employed at different stages for transferring and dosing of the final product. Commonly used silicone tubings are known for particle shedding from the inner tubing surface due to friction in the pump head. These nanometer sized silicone rubber particles could interfere with proteins. Until now, only mixed protein particles containing micrometer-sized contaminations such as silicone oil have been characterized, detected, and quantified. To overcome the detection limits in particle sizes of contaminants, this study aimed for the definite identification of protein particles containing nanometer sized silicone particles in qualitative and quantitative manner. The mixed particles consisted of silicone rubber particles either coated with a protein monolayer or embedded into protein aggregates. Confocal Raman microscopy allows label free chemical identification of components and 3D particle imaging. Labeling the tubing enables high-resolution imaging via confocal laser scanning microscopy and counting of mixed particles via Imaging Flow Cytometry. Overall, these methods allow the detection and identification of particles of unknown origin and composition and could be a forensic tool for solving problems with contaminations during processing of biopharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Deiringer
- Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Haase
- Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Karin Wieland
- Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefan Zahler
- Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Christoph Haisch
- Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Friess
- Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
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29
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Kamerzell TJ, Middaugh CR. Prediction Machines: Applied Machine Learning for Therapeutic Protein Design and Development. J Pharm Sci 2020; 110:665-681. [PMID: 33278409 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.11.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The rapid growth in technological advances and quantity of scientific data over the past decade has led to several challenges including data storage and analysis. Accurate models of complex datasets were previously difficult to develop and interpret. However, improvements in machine learning algorithms have since enabled unparalleled classification and prediction capabilities. The application of machine learning can be seen throughout diverse industries due to their ease of use and interpretability. In this review, we describe popular machine learning algorithms and highlight their application in pharmaceutical protein development. Machine learning models have now been applied to better understand the nonlinear concentration dependent viscosity of protein solutions, predict protein oxidation and deamidation rates, classify sub-visible particles and compare the physical stability of proteins. We also applied several machine learning algorithms using previously published data and describe models with improved predictions and classification. The authors hope that this review can be used as a resource to others and encourage continued application of machine learning algorithms to problems in pharmaceutical protein development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim J Kamerzell
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA; Division of Internal Medicine, HCA MidWest Health, Overland Park, KS, USA.
| | - C Russell Middaugh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
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30
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Chen XG, Graužinytė M, van der Vaart AW, Boll B. Applying Pattern Recognition as a Robust Approach for Silicone Oil Droplet Identification in Flow-Microscopy Images of Protein Formulations. J Pharm Sci 2020; 110:1643-1651. [PMID: 33122049 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.10.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Discrimination between potentially immunogenic protein aggregates and harmless pharmaceutical components, like silicone oil, is critical for drug development. Flow imaging techniques allow to measure and, in principle, classify subvisible particles in protein therapeutics. However, automated approaches for silicone oil discrimination are still lacking robustness in terms of accuracy and transferability. In this work, we present an image-based filter that can reliably identify silicone oil particles in protein therapeutics across a wide range of parenteral products. A two-step classification approach is designed for automated silicone oil droplet discrimination, based on particle images generated with a flow imaging instrument. Distinct from previously published methods, our novel image-based filter is trained using silicone oil droplet images only and is, thus, independent of the type of protein samples imaged. Benchmarked against alternative approaches, the proposed filter showed best overall performance in categorizing silicone oil and non-oil particles taken from a variety of protein solutions. Excellent accuracy was observed particularly for higher resolution images. The image-based filter can successfully distinguish silicone oil particles with high accuracy in protein solutions not used for creating the filter, showcasing its high transferability and potential for wide applicability in biopharmaceutical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Gregory Chen
- Analytical Science and Technology, Quality, Novartis Pharma AG, 4002 Basel, Switzerland; Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9512, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Miglė Graužinytė
- Biologics Technical Development, Novartis Pharma AG, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Aad W van der Vaart
- Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9512, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Björn Boll
- Biologics Technical Development, Novartis Pharma AG, 4002 Basel, Switzerland.
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31
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Advanced Characterization of Silicone Oil Droplets in Protein Therapeutics Using Artificial Intelligence Analysis of Imaging Flow Cytometry Data. J Pharm Sci 2020; 109:2996-3005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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32
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Daniels AL, Calderon CP, Randolph TW. Machine learning and statistical analyses for extracting and characterizing "fingerprints" of antibody aggregation at container interfaces from flow microscopy images. Biotechnol Bioeng 2020; 117:3322-3335. [PMID: 32667683 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Therapeutic proteins are exposed to numerous stresses during their manufacture, shipping, storage and administration to patients, causing them to aggregate and form particles through a variety of different mechanisms. These varied mechanisms generate particle populations with characteristic morphologies, creating "fingerprints" that are reflected in images recorded using flow imaging microscopy. Particle population fingerprints in test samples can be extracted and compared against those of particles produced under baseline conditions using an algorithm that combines machine learning tools such as convolutional neural networks with statistical tools such as nonparametric density estimation and Rosenblatt transform-based goodness-of-fit hypothesis testing. This analysis provides a quantitative method with user-specified type 1 error rates to determine whether the mechanisms that produce particles in test samples differ from particle formation mechanisms operative under baseline conditions. As a demonstration, this algorithm was used to compare particles within intravenous immunoglobulin formulations that were exposed to freeze-thawing and shaking stresses within a variety of different containers. This analysis revealed that seemingly subtle differences in containers (e.g., glass vials from different manufacturers) generated distinguishable particle populations after the stresses were applied. This algorithm can be used to assess the impact of process and formulation changes on aggregation-related product instabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin L Daniels
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
| | - Christopher P Calderon
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
- Ursa Analytics, Denver, Colorado
| | - Theodore W Randolph
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
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