Robust platform for inline Raman monitoring and control of perfusion cell culture

Perfusion cell culture has been gaining increasing popularity for biologics manufacturing due to benefits such as smaller footprint, increased productivity, consistent product quality and manufacturing flexibility, cost savings, and so forth. Process Analytics Technologies tools are highly desirable for effective monitoring and control of long-running perfusion processes. Raman has been widely investigated for monitoring and control of traditional fed batch cell culture process. However, implementation of Raman for perfusion cell culture has been very limited mainly due to challenges with high-cell density and long running times during perfusion which cause extremely high fluorescence interference to Raman spectra and consequently it is exceedingly difficult to develop robust chemometrics models. In this work, a platform based on Raman measurement of permeate has been proposed for effective analysis of perfusion process. It has been demonstrated that this platform can effectively circumvent the fluorescence interference issue while providing rich and timely information about perfusion dynamics to enable efficient process monitoring and robust bioreactor feed control. With the highly consistent spectral data from cell-free sample matrix, development of chemometrics models can be greatly facilitated. Based on this platform, Raman models have been developed for good measurement of several analytes including glucose, lactate, glutamine, glutamate, and permeate titer. Performance of Raman models developed this way has been systematically evaluated and the models have shown good robustness against changes in perfusion scale and variations in permeate flowrate; thus models developed from small lab scale can be directly transferred for implementation in much larger scale of perfusion. With demonstrated robustness, this platform provides a reliable approach for automated glucose feed control in perfusion bioreactors. Glucose model developed from small lab scale has been successfully implemented for automated continuous glucose feed control of perfusion cell culture at much larger scale.

Two-Dimensional SEC-SEC-UV-MALS-dRI Workflow for Streamlined Analysis and Characterization of Biopharmaceuticals

The emergence of complex biological modalities in the biopharmaceutical industry entails a significant expansion of the current analytical toolbox to address the need to deploy meaningful and reliable assays at an unprecedented pace. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is an industry standard technique for protein separation and analysis. Some constraints of traditional SEC stem from its restricted ability to resolve complex mixtures and notoriously long run times while also requiring multiple offline separation conditions on different pore size columns to cover a wider molecular size distribution. Two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) is becoming an important tool not only to increase peak capacity but also to tune selectivity in a single online method. Herein, an online 2D-LC framework in which both dimensions utilize SEC columns with different pore sizes is introduced with a goal to increase throughput for biomolecule separation and characterization. In addition to improving the separation of closely related species, this online 2D SEC-SEC approach also facilitated the rapid analysis of protein-based mixtures of a wide molecular size range in a single online experimental run bypassing time-consuming deployment of different offline SEC methods. By coupling the second dimension with multiangle light scattering (MALS) and differential refractive index (dRI) detectors, absolute molecular weights of the separated species were obtained without the use of calibration curves. As illustrated in this report for protein mixtures and vaccine processes, this workflow can be used in scenarios where rapid development and deployment of SEC assays are warranted, enabling bioprocess monitoring, purity assessment, and characterization.

Pioneering Just-in-Time (JIT) Strategy for Accelerating Raman Method Development and Implementation for Biologic Continuous Manufacturing

Raman spectroscopy is a popular process analytical technology (PAT) tool that has been increasingly used to monitor and control the monoclonal antibody (mAb) manufacturing process. Although it allows the characterization of a variety of quality attributes by developing chemometric models, a large quantity of representative data is required, and hence, the model development process can be time-consuming. In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has been expediting new drug development in order to achieve faster delivery of life-changing drugs to patients. The shortened development timelines have impacted the Raman application, as less time is allowed for data collection. To address this problem, an innovative Just-in-Time (JIT) strategy is proposed with the goal of reducing the time needed for Raman model development and ensuring its implementation. To demonstrate its capabilities, a proof-of-concept study was performed by applying the JIT strategy to a biologic continuous process for producing monoclonal antibody products. Raman spectroscopy and online two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) were integrated as a PAT analyzer system. Raman models of antibody titer and aggregate percentage were calibrated by chemometric modeling in real-time. The models were also updated in real-time using new data collected during process monitoring. Initial Raman models with adequate performance were established using data collected from two lab-scale cell culture batches and subsequently updated using one scale-up batch. The JIT strategy is capable of accelerating Raman method development to monitor and guide the expedited biologics process development.

Accelerating Pharmaceutical Process Development with an Acoustic Droplet Ejection-Multiple Reaction Monitoring-Mass Spectrometry Workflow

Fast-paced pharmaceutical process developments (e.g., high-throughput experimentation, directed evolution, and machine learning) involve the introduction of fast, sensitive, and accurate analytical assays using limited sample volumes. In recent years, acoustic droplet ejection (ADE) coupled with an open port interface has been invented as a sampling technology for mass spectrometry, providing high-throughput nanoliter analytical measurements directly from the standard microplates. Herein, we introduce an ADE-multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry (ADE-MRM-MS) workflow to accelerate pharmaceutical process research and development (PR&D). This systematic workflow outlines the selection of MRM transitions and optimization of assay parameters in a data-driven manner using rapid measurements (1 sample/s). The synergy between ADE sampling and MRM analysis enables analytical assays with excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and speed for PR&D reaction screenings. This workflow was utilized to develop new ADE-MRM-MS assays guiding a variety of industrial processes, including (1) screening of Ni-based catalysts for C-N cross-coupling reaction at 1 Hz and (2) high-throughput regioisomer analysis-enabled enzyme library screening for peptide ligation reaction. ADE-MRM-MS assays were demonstrated to deliver accurate results that are comparable to conventional liquid chromatography (LC) experiments while providing >100-fold throughput enhancement.

Automated Online-Sampling Multidimensional Liquid Chromatography with Feedback-Control Capability as a Framework for Real-Time Monitoring of mAb Critical Quality Attributes in Multiple Bioreactors

Real-time monitoring of biopharmaceutical reactors is becoming increasingly important as the processes become more complex. During the continuous manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), the desired mAb product is continually created and collected over a 30 day process, where there can be changes in quality over that time. Liquid chromatography (LC) is the workhorse instrumentation capable of measuring mAb concentration as well as quality attributes such as aggregation, charge variants, oxidation, etc. However, traditional offline sampling is too infrequent to fully characterize bioprocesses, and the typical time from sample generation to data analysis and reporting can take weeks. To circumvent these limitations, an automated online sampling multidimensional workflow was developed to enable streamlined measurements of mAb concentration, aggregation, and charge variants. This analytical framework also facilitates automated data export for real-time analysis of up to six bioreactors, including feedback-controlling capability using readily available LC technology. This workflow increases the data points per bioreactor, improving the understanding of each experiment while also reducing the data turnaround time from weeks to hours. Examples of effective real-time analyses of mAb critical quality attributes are illustrated, showing substantial throughput improvements and accurate results while minimizing labor and manual intervention.

Real-time in situ monitoring of CRM-197 and polysaccharide conjugation reaction by fluorescence spectroscopy

Aims: Process analytical technology (PAT) is increasingly being adopted within the pharmaceutical industry to build quality into a process. Development of PAT that provides real-time in situ analysis of critical quality attributes are highly desirable for rapid, improved process development. Conjugation of CRM-197 with pneumococcal polysaccharides to produce a desired pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is a significantly intricate process that can tremendously benefit from real-time process monitoring. Methods: In this work, a fluorescence-based PAT methodology is described to elucidate CRM-197-polysacharide conjugation kinetics in real time. Results & conclusion: In this work, a fluorescence-based PAT methodology is described to elucidate CRM-197-polysacharide conjugation kinetics in real time.

Combining Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography (HILIC) and Isotope Tagging for Off-Line LC-NMR Applications in Metabolite Analysis

The complementary use of liquid chromatography (LC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has shown high utility in a variety of fields. While the significant benefit of spectral simplification can be achieved for the analysis of complex samples, other limitations remain. For example, (1)H LC-NMR suffers from pH dependent chemical shift variations, especially during urine analysis, owing to the high physiological variation of urine pH. Additionally, large solvent signals from the mobile phase in LC can obscure lower intensity signals and severely limit the number of metabolites detected. These limitations, along with sample dilution, hinder the ability to make reliable chemical shift assignments. Recently, stable isotopic labeling has been used to detect quantitatively specific classes of metabolites of interest in biofluids. Here we present a strategy that explores the combined use of two-dimensional hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) and isotope tagged NMR for the unambiguous identification of carboxyl containing metabolites present in human urine. The ability to separate structurally related compounds chromatographically, in off-line mode, followed by detection using (1)H-(15)N 2D HSQC (two-dimensional heteronuclear single quantum coherence) spectroscopy, resulted in the assignment of low concentration carboxyl-containing metabolites from a library of isotope labeled compounds. The quantitative nature of this strategy is also demonstrated.

Use of optimized 1D TOCSY NMR for improved quantitation and metabolomic analysis of biofluids

One dimensional selective TOCSY experiments have been shown to be advantageous in providing improved data inputs for principle component analysis (PCA) (Sandusky and Raftery 2005a, b). Better subpopulation cluster resolution in the observed scores plots results from the ability to isolate metabolite signals of interest via the TOCSY based filtering approach. This report reexamines the quantitative aspects of this approach, first by optimizing the 1D TOCSY experiment as it relates to the measurement of biofluid constituent concentrations, and second by comparing the integration of 1D TOCSY read peaks to the bucket integration of 1D proton NMR spectra in terms of precision and accuracy. This comparison indicates that, because of the extensive peak overlap that occurs in the 1D proton NMR spectra of biofluid samples, bucket integrals are often far less accurate as measures of individual constituent concentrations than 1D TOCSY read peaks. Even spectral fitting approaches have proven difficult in the analysis of significantly overlapped spectral regions. Measurements of endogenous taurine made over a sample population of human urine demonstrates that, due to background signals from other constituents, bucket integrals of 1D proton spectra routinely overestimate the taurine concentrations and distort its variation over the sample population. As a result, PCA calculations performed using data matrices incorporating 1D TOCSY determined taurine concentrations produce better scores plot subpopulation cluster resolution.

Identification of 4-deoxythreonic acid present in human urine using HPLC and NMR techniques

The 1H NMR spectrum of urine exhibits a large number of detectable and quantifiable metabolites and hence urine metabolite profiling is potentially useful for the study of systems biology and the discovery of biomarkers for drug development or clinical applications. While a number of metabolites (50-100) are readily detectable in urine by NMR, a much larger number is potentially available if lower concentration species can be detected unambiguously. Lower concentration metabolites are thought to be more specific to certain disease states and thus it is important to detect these metabolites with certainty. We report the identification of 4-deoxythreonic acid, a relatively low concentration endogenous metabolite that has not been previously identified in the 1H NMR spectrum of human urine. The use of HPLC and NMR spectroscopy facilitated the unequivocal and non-invasive identification of the molecule in urine which is complicated by extensive peak overlap and multiple, similar resonances from other metabolites such as 3-hydroxybutanoic acid. High-resolution detection and good sensitivity were achieved by the combination of multiple chromatographic fraction collection, sample pre-concentration, and the use of a cryogenically cooled NMR probe.