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Giordani S, Marassi V, Zattoni A, Roda B, Reschiglian P. Liposomes characterization for market approval as pharmaceutical products: Analytical methods, guidelines and standardized protocols. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2023; 236:115751. [PMID: 37778202 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Liposomes are nano-sized lipid-based vesicles widely studied for their drug delivery capabilities. Compared to standard carries they exhibit better properties such as improved site-targeting and drug release, protection of drugs from degradation and clearance, and lower toxic side effects. At present, scientific literature is rich of studies regarding liposomes-based systems, while 14 types of liposomal products have been authorized to the market by EMA and FDA and many others have been approved by national agencies. Although the interest in nanodevices and nanomedicine has steadily increased in the last two decades the development of documentation regulating and standardizing all the phases of their development and quality control still suffers from major inadequacy due to the intrinsic complexity of nano-systems characterization. Many generic documents (Type 1) discussing guidelines for the study of nano-systems (lipidic and not) have been proposed while there is a lack of robust and standardized methods (Type 2 documents). As a result, a widespread of different techniques, approaches and methodologies are being used, generating results of variable quality and hard to compare with each other. Additionally, such documents are often subject to updates and rewriting further complicating the topic. Within this context the aim of this work is focused on bridging the gap in liposome characterization: the most recent standardized methodologies suitable for liposomes characterization are here reported (with the corresponding Type 2 documents) and revised in a short and pragmatical way focused on providing the reader with a practical background of the state of the art. In particular, this paper will put the accent on the methodologies developed to evaluate the main critical quality attributes (CQAs) necessary for liposomes market approval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Giordani
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Valentina Marassi
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
| | - Andrea Zattoni
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy
| | - Barbara Roda
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
| | - Pierluigi Reschiglian
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy
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Giordani S, Marassi V, Placci A, Zattoni A, Roda B, Reschiglian P. Field-Flow Fractionation in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Molecules 2023; 28:6201. [PMID: 37687030 PMCID: PMC10488451 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28176201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Field-flow fractionation (FFF) is a family of single-phase separative techniques exploited to gently separate and characterize nano- and microsystems in suspension. These techniques cover an extremely wide dynamic range and are able to separate analytes in an interval between a few nm to 100 µm size-wise (over 15 orders of magnitude mass-wise). They are flexible in terms of mobile phase and can separate the analytes in native conditions, preserving their original structures/properties as much as possible. Molecular biology is the branch of biology that studies the molecular basis of biological activity, while biotechnology deals with the technological applications of biology. The areas where biotechnologies are required include industrial, agri-food, environmental, and pharmaceutical. Many species of biological interest belong to the operational range of FFF techniques, and their application to the analysis of such samples has steadily grown in the last 30 years. This work aims to summarize the main features, milestones, and results provided by the application of FFF in the field of molecular biology and biotechnology, with a focus on the years from 2000 to 2022. After a theoretical background overview of FFF and its methodologies, the results are reported based on the nature of the samples analyzed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Giordani
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy (V.M.)
| | - Valentina Marassi
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy (V.M.)
- byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy
| | - Anna Placci
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy (V.M.)
| | - Andrea Zattoni
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy (V.M.)
- byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy
| | - Barbara Roda
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy (V.M.)
- byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Reschiglian
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy (V.M.)
- byFlow srl, 40129 Bologna, Italy
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Condado-Morales I, Sokolova V, Wahlund PO, Heding KE, Auclair S, Kingsbury JS, Arosio P, Lorenzen N. AF4 and PEG Precipitation as Predictive Assays for Antibody Self-Association. Mol Pharm 2023; 20:1323-1330. [PMID: 36668814 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are often formulated as high-protein-concentration solutions, which in some cases can exhibit physical stability issues such as high viscosity and opalescence. To ensure that mAb-based drugs can meet their manufacturing, stability, and delivery requirements, it is advantageous to screen for and select mAbs during discovery that are not prone to such behaviors. It has been recently shown that both these macroscopic properties can be predicted to a certain extent from the diffusion interaction parameter (kD), which is a measure of self-association under dilute conditions.1 However, kD can be challenging to measure at the early stage of discovery, where a relatively large amount of a high-purity material, which is required by traditional methods, is often not available. In this study, we demonstrate asymmetric field-flow fractionation (AF4) as a tool to measure self-association and therefore identify antibodies with problematic issues at high concentrations. The principle lies on the ability to concentrate the sample close to the membrane during the injection mode, which can reach formulation-relevant concentrations (>100 mg/mL).2 By analyzing a well-characterized library of commercial antibodies, we show that the measured retention time of the antibodies allows us to pinpoint molecules that exhibit issues at high concentrations. Remarkably, our AF4 assay requires very little (30 μg) sample under dilute conditions and does not need extensive sample purification. Furthermore, we show that a polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation assay provides results consistent with AF4 and moreover can further differentiate molecules with issues of opalescence or high viscosity. Overall, our results delineate a two-step strategy for the identification of problematic variants at high concentrations, with AF4 for early developability screening, followed by a PEG assay to validate the problematic molecules and further discriminate between opalescence or high-viscosity issues. This two-step antibody selection strategy enables us to select antibodies early in the discovery process, which are compatible with high-concentration formulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itzel Condado-Morales
- Global Research Technology, Novo Nordisk A/S, Maaloev 2760, Denmark.,Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zürich, Zürich 8093, Switzerland
| | - Viktoria Sokolova
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zürich, Zürich 8093, Switzerland
| | - Per-Olof Wahlund
- Global Research Technology, Novo Nordisk A/S, Maaloev 2760, Denmark
| | | | - Sarah Auclair
- Global CMC Development, Sanofi, Framingham, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | | | - Paolo Arosio
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zürich, Zürich 8093, Switzerland
| | - Nikolai Lorenzen
- Global Research Technology, Novo Nordisk A/S, Maaloev 2760, Denmark
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Svilenov HL, Arosio P, Menzen T, Tessier P, Sormanni P. Approaches to expand the conventional toolbox for discovery and selection of antibodies with drug-like physicochemical properties. MAbs 2023; 15:2164459. [PMID: 36629855 PMCID: PMC9839375 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2022.2164459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Antibody drugs should exhibit not only high-binding affinity for their target antigens but also favorable physicochemical drug-like properties. Such drug-like biophysical properties are essential for the successful development of antibody drug products. The traditional approaches used in antibody drug development require significant experimentation to produce, optimize, and characterize many candidates. Therefore, it is attractive to integrate new methods that can optimize the process of selecting antibodies with both desired target-binding and drug-like biophysical properties. Here, we summarize a selection of techniques that can complement the conventional toolbox used to de-risk antibody drug development. These techniques can be integrated at different stages of the antibody development process to reduce the frequency of physicochemical liabilities in antibody libraries during initial discovery and to co-optimize multiple antibody features during early-stage antibody engineering and affinity maturation. Moreover, we highlight biophysical and computational approaches that can be used to predict physical degradation pathways relevant for long-term storage and in-use stability to reduce the need for extensive experimentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hristo L. Svilenov
- Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Paolo Arosio
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Tim Menzen
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Martinsried, 82152, Germany
| | - Peter Tessier
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Pietro Sormanni
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Podzimek S. Comparative Study of SEC and AF4 in the Characterization of Organic Soluble Synthetic Polymers. Chromatographia 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10337-022-04217-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Investigation of native and aggregated therapeutic proteins in human plasma with asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation and mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 2022; 414:8191-8200. [PMID: 36198918 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-022-04355-2] [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: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Physiochemical degradation of therapeutic proteins in vivo during plasma circulation after administration can have a detrimental effect on their efficacy and safety profile. During drug product development, in vivo animal studies are necessary to explore in vivo protein behaviour. However, these studies are very demanding and expensive, and the industry is working to decrease the number of in vivo studies. Consequently, there is considerable interest in the development of methods to pre-screen the behaviour of therapeutic proteins in vivo using in vitro analysis. In this work, asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were combined to develop a novel analytical methodology for predicting the behaviour of therapeutic proteins in vivo. The method was tested with two proteins, a monoclonal antibody and a serum albumin binding affibody. After incubation of the proteins in plasma, the method was successfully used to investigate and quantify serum albumin binding, analyse changes in monoclonal antibody size, and identify and quantify monoclonal antibody aggregates.
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Ventouri IK, Loeber S, Somsen GW, Schoenmakers PJ, Astefanei A. Field-flow fractionation for molecular-interaction studies of labile and complex systems: A critical review. Anal Chim Acta 2022; 1193:339396. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2021.339396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Dingfelder F, Henriksen A, Wahlund PO, Arosio P, Lorenzen N. Measuring Self-Association of Antibody Lead Candidates with Dynamic Light Scattering. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2313:241-258. [PMID: 34478142 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1450-1_14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
In this method chapter, we provide a brief overview of the key methods available to measure self-association of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and explain for which experimental throughputs they are usually applied. We then focus on dynamic light scattering (DLS) and describe experimental details on how to measure the diffusion interaction parameter (kD) which is occasionally referred to as the gold standard for measuring self-association of proteins. The kD is a well-established parameter to predict solution viscosity, which is one of the most critical developability parameters of mAbs. Finally, we present a pH and excipient screen that is designed to measure self-association with DLS under conditions that are relevant for bioprocessing and formulation of mAbs. The presented light scattering methods are well suited for lead candidate selections where it is essential to select mAbs with high developability potential for progression toward first human dose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Dingfelder
- Department of Biophysics and Injectable Formulation 2, Global Research Technologies, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark.
| | - Anette Henriksen
- Department of Modelling and Predictive Technologies, Global Research Technologies, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Per-Olof Wahlund
- Department of Biophysics and Injectable Formulation 2, Global Research Technologies, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Paolo Arosio
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Nikolai Lorenzen
- Department of Biophysics and Injectable Formulation 2, Global Research Technologies, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark.
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