Inspecting Insulin Products Using Water Proton NMR. I. Noninvasive vs Invasive Inspection

Low-field NMR Works as a Rapid, Automatic, Non-Invasive and Wide-Scale Coverage Technique for Aggregates Indication in Biomacromolecule Development

Protein aggregation is challenging for biopharmaceutical drug, because it affects the stability of protein formulations in real-time. However, current techniques for protein aggregate indication meet a number of limitations including limited aggregate size range, complex pre-treatments and lack of chromatographic approaches. Herein, a rapid, automatic, non-invasive and wide-scale coverage technique for aggregates indication is developed to overcome these challenges. Firstly, the response of low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) to the aggregates is explored by making a comparison with certain established techniques. LF-NMR achieves a high sensitivity of water proton transverse relaxation rate (R2 of H2O, hereinafter referred as R2(H2O)) to protein aggregates from nanometer to micrometer. Then, the quantitative relationship between R2(H2O) and aggregates is investigated furtherly. R2(H2O) could serve as an all-size coverage protein aggregates indicator during development. As a non-invasive method, LF-NMR does not need any sample handling. It takes only 44 s for one test, and saves a lot of manpower, materials and costs. Compared with other established analytical techniques, the technique developed here could be a powerful tool for a rapid, automatic, non-invasive and wide-scale coverage technique for aggregates indication in biomacromolecule development.

Synergistic quantification of mixed insulin preparations using time domain NMR techniques

Diabetes patients often rely on tailored insulin therapies, necessitating precise blends of various insulin types to achieve optimal pharmacokinetic profiles, including the quantity and action duration of insulin absorption into the bloodstream. This study aimed to develop an accurate quantification method for mixed insulin preparations, consisting of Insulin-NPH and Insulin Regular in ratios varying between 0:100-100:0. Time Domain NMR (TD-NMR) techniques, T2 relaxation times, and T1T2 maps were used to analyze the mixtures. Individually, neither technique provided a reliable determination of insulin ratios. However, the integration of both methods through chemometrics has been proven to be a synergistic approach, yielding a robust quantification technique suitable for quality control in the assessment of mixed insulin drugs. This innovative combined TD-NMR method is non-invasive, cost-effective, and user-friendly, offering at the same time a significant potential for preventing health complications associated with improper insulin dosing. Furthermore, our work elucidates the broader applicability of converging multiple TD-NMR techniques for analyzing intricate mixtures.

Decoupling Protein Concentration and Aggregate Content Using Diffusion and Water NMR

Protein-based biopharmaceutical drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, account for the majority of the best-selling drugs globally in recent years. For bioprocesses, key performance indicators are the concentration and aggregate level for the product being produced. In water NMR (wNMR), the use of the water transverse relaxation rate [R2(1H2O)] has been previously used to determine protein concentration and aggregate level; however, it cannot be used to separate between them without using an additional technique. This work shows that it is possible to "decouple" these two key characteristics by recording the water diffusion coefficient [D(1H2O)] in conjunction with R2(1H2O), even in the event of overlap in either D(1H2O) or R2(1H2O). This method is demonstrated on three different systems, following appropriate D(1H2O) or R2(1H2O) calibration data acquisition for a protein of interest. Our method highlights the potential use of benchtop NMR as an at-line process analytical technique.

In-situ biophysical characterization of high-concentration protein formulations using wNMR

High-concentration protein formulation is of paramount importance in patient-centric drug product development, but it also presents challenges due to the potential for enhanced aggregation and increased viscosity. The analysis of critical quality attributes often necessitates the transfer of samples from their primary containers together with sample dilution. Therefore, there is a demand for noninvasive, in situ biophysical methods to assess protein drug products directly in primary sterile containers, such as prefilled syringes, without dilution. In this study, we introduce a novel application of water proton nuclear magnetic resonance (wNMR) to evaluate the aggregation propensity of a high-concentration drug product, Dupixent® (dupilumab), under stress conditions. wNMR results demonstrate a concentration-dependent, reversible association of dupilumab in the commercial formulation, as well as irreversible aggregation when exposed to accelerated thermal stress, but gradually reversible aggregation when exposed to freeze and thaw cycles. Importantly, these results show a strong correlation with data obtained from established biophysical analytical tools widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The application of wNMR represents a promising approach for in situ noninvasive analysis of high-concentration protein formulations directly in their primary containers, providing valuable insights for drug development and quality assessment.

Analysis of the Adsorbed Vaccine Formulations Using Water Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Comparison with Optical Analytics

PURPOSE

To evaluate wNMR, an emerging noninvasive analytical technology, for characterizing aluminum-adjuvanted vaccine formulations.

METHODS

wNMR stands for water proton nuclear magnetic resonance. In this work, wNMR and optical techniques (laser diffraction and laser scattering) were used to characterize vaccine formulations containing different antigen loads adsorbed onto AlPO4 adjuvant microparticles, including the fully dispersed state and the sedimentation process. All wNMR measurements were done noninvasively on sealed vials containing the adsorbed vaccine suspensions, while the optical techniques require transferring the adsorbed vaccine suspensions out of the original vial into specialized cuvette/tube for analysis. For analyzing fully dispersed suspensions, optical techniques also require sample dilution.

RESULTS

wNMR outperformed laser diffraction in differentiating high- and low-dose formulations of the same vaccine, while wNMR and laser scattering achieved comparable results on vaccine sedimentation kinetics and the compactness of fully settled vaccines.

CONCLUSION

wNMR could be used to analyze aluminum-adjuvanted formulations and to differentiate between formulations containing different antigen loads adsorbed onto aluminum adjuvant microparticles. The results demonstrate the capability of wNMR to characterize antigen-adjuvant complexes and to noninvasively inspect finished vaccine products.

Assessing Antigen-Adjuvant Complex Stability Against Physical Stresses By wNMR

This study applies an emerging analytical technology, wNMR (water proton nuclear magnetic resonance), to assess the stability of aluminum adjuvants and antigen-adjuvant complexes against physical stresses, including gravitation, flow and freeze/thaw. Results from wNMR are verified by conventional analytical technologies, including static light scattering and microfluidic imaging. The results show that wNMR can quickly and noninvasively determine whether an aluminum adjuvant or antigen-adjuvant complex sample has been altered by physical stresses.

Correlated analytical and functional evaluation of higher order structure perturbations from oxidation of NISTmAb

The clinical efficacy and safety of protein-based drugs such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) rely on the integrity of the protein higher order structure (HOS) during product development, manufacturing, storage, and patient administration. As mAb-based drugs are becoming more prevalent in the treatment of many illnesses, the need to establish metrics for quality attributes of mAb therapeutics through high-resolution techniques is also becoming evident. To this end, here we used a forced degradation method, time-dependent oxidation by hydrogen peroxide, on the model biotherapeutic NISTmAb and evaluated the effects on HOS with orthogonal analytical methods and a functional assay. To monitor the oxidation process, the experimental workflow involved incubation of NISTmAb with hydrogen peroxide in a benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR) that followed the reaction kinetics, in real-time through the water proton transverse relaxation rate R₂(¹H₂O). Aliquots taken at defined time points were further analyzed by high-field 2D ¹H-¹³C methyl correlation fingerprint spectra in parallel with other analytical techniques, including thermal unfolding, size-exclusion chromatography, and surface plasmon resonance, to assess changes in stability, heterogeneity, and binding affinities. The complementary measurement outputs from the different techniques demonstrate the utility of combining NMR with other analytical tools to monitor oxidation kinetics and extract the resulting structural changes in mAbs that are functionally relevant, allowing rigorous assessment of HOS attributes relevant to the efficacy and safety of mAb-based drug products.