A pharmacology guided approach for setting limits on product-related impurities for bispecific antibody manufacturing.

INTRODUCTION: bFKB1 is a humanized bispecific IgG1 antibody, created by conjoining an anti-Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 (FGFR1) half-antibody to an anti-Klothoß (KLB) half-antibody, using the knobs-into-holes strategy. bFKB1 acts as a highly selective agonist for the FGFR1/KLB receptor complex and is intended to ameliorate obesity-associated metabolic defects by mimicking the activity of the hormone FGF21. An important aspect of the biologics product manufacturing process is to establish meaningful product specifications regarding the tolerable levels of impurities that copurify with the drug product. The aim of the current study was to determine acceptable levels of product-related impurities for bFKB1. METHODS: To determine the tolerable levels of these impurities, we dosed obese mice with bFKB1 enriched with various levels of either HMW impurities or anti-FGFR1-related impurities, and measured biomarkers for KLB-independent FGFR1 signaling. RESULTS: Here, we show that product-related impurities of bFKB1, in particular, high molecular weight (HMW) impurities and anti-FGFR1-related impurities, when purposefully enriched, stimulate FGFR1 in a KLB-independent manner. By taking this approach, the tolerable levels of product-related impurities were successfully determined. DISCUSSION: Our study demonstrates a general pharmacology-guided approach to setting a product specification for a bispecific antibody whose homomultimer-related impurities could lead to undesired biological effects.

Automated dynamic fed-batch process and media optimization for high productivity cell culture process development.

Current industry practices for large-scale mammalian cell cultures typically employ a standard platform fed-batch process with fixed volume bolus feeding. Although widely used, these processes are unable to respond to actual nutrient consumption demands from the culture, which can result in accumulation of by-products and depletion of certain nutrients. This work demonstrates the application of a fully automated cell culture control, monitoring, and data processing system to achieve significant productivity improvement via dynamic feeding and media optimization. Two distinct feeding algorithms were used to dynamically alter feed rates. The first method is based upon on-line capacitance measurements where cultures were fed based on growth and nutrient consumption rates estimated from integrated capacitance. The second method is based upon automated glucose measurements obtained from the Nova Bioprofile FLEX® autosampler where cultures were fed to maintain a target glucose level which in turn maintained other nutrients based on a stoichiometric ratio. All of the calculations were done automatically through in-house integration with a Delta V process control system. Through both media and feed strategy optimization, a titer increase from the original platform titer of 5 to 6.3 g/L was achieved for cell line A, and a substantial titer increase of 4 to over 9 g/L was achieved for cell line B with comparable product quality. Glucose was found to be the best feed indicator, but not all cell lines benefited from dynamic feeding and optimized feed media was critical to process improvement. Our work demonstrated that dynamic feeding has the ability to automatically adjust feed rates according to culture behavior, and that the advantage can be best realized during early and rapid process development stages where different cell lines or large changes in culture conditions might lead to dramatically different nutrient demands.

Probing of C-terminal lysine variation in a recombinant monoclonal antibody production using Chinese hamster ovary cells with chemically defined media.

C-terminal lysine (C-K) variants are commonly observed in therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins. Heterogeneity of C-K residues is believed to result from varying degree of proteolysis by endogenous carboxypeptidase(s) during cell culture production. The achievement of batch-to-batch culture performance and product quality reproducibility is a key cell culture development criterion. Understanding the operational parameters affecting C-K levels provides valuable insight into the cell culture process. A CHO cell line X expressing a recombinant antibody was selected as the model cell line due to the exhibited sensitivity of its C-K level to the process conditions. A weak cation exchange chromatography (WCX) method with or without carboxypeptidase B (CpB) treatment was developed to monitor the C-K level for in-process samples. The effects of operating conditions (i.e., temperature and culture duration) and media trace elements (copper and zinc) on C-K variants were studied. The dominant effect on C-K level was identified as the trace elements concentration. Specifically, increased C-K levels were observed with increase of copper concentration and decrease of zinc concentration in chemically defined medium. Further, a hypothesis for C-K processing with intracellular and extracellular carboxypeptidase activity was proposed, based on preliminary intracellular carboxypeptidase Western blot results and the extracellular HCCF holding study.

Feeding lactate for CHO cell culture processes: impact on culture metabolism and performance.

Lactate has long been regarded as one of the key metabolites of mammalian cell cultures. High levels of lactate have clear negative impacts on cell culture processes, and therefore, a great amount of efforts have been made to reduce lactate accumulation and/or to induce lactate consumption in the later stage of cultures. However, there is virtually no report on the impact of lactate depletion after initial accumulation. In this work, we observed that glucose uptake rate dropped over 50% at the onset of lactate consumption, and that catabolism of alanine due to lactate depletion led to ammonium accumulation. We explored the impact of feeding lactate as well as pyruvate to the cultures. In particular, a strategy was employed where CO(2) was replaced by lactic acid for culture pH control, which enabled automatic lactate feeding. The results demonstrated that lactate or pyruvate can serve as an alternative or even preferred carbon source during certain stage of the culture in the presence of glucose, and that by feeding lactate or pyruvate, very low levels of ammonia can be achieved throughout the culture. In addition, low levels of pCO(2) were also maintained in these cultures. This was in strong contrast to the control cultures where lactate was depleted during the culture, and ammonia and pCO(2) build-up were significant. Culture growth and productivity were similar between the control and lactate-fed cultures, as well as various product quality attributes. To our knowledge, this work represents the first comprehensive study on lactate depletion and offers a simple yet effective strategy to overcome ammonia and pCO(2) accumulation that could arise in certain cultures due to early depletion of lactate.

Comparative metabolite analysis to understand lactate metabolism shift in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture process.

A metabolic shift from lactate production (LP) to net lactate consumption (LC) phenotype was observed in certain Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines during the implementation of a new chemically defined medium (CDM) formulation for antibody production. In addition, this metabolic shift typically leads to process performance improvements in cell growth, productivity, process robustness, and scalability. In our previous studies, a correlation between a key media component, copper, and this lactate metabolism shift was observed. To further investigate this phenomenon, two complementary studies were conducted. In the first study, a single cell line was cultivated in two media that only differed in their copper concentrations, yet were known to generate an LP or LC phenotype with that cell line. In the second study, two different cell lines, which were known to possess inherently different lactate metabolic characteristics, were cultivated in the same medium with a high level of copper; one cell line produced lactate throughout the duration of the culture, and the other consumed lactate after an initial period of LP. Cell pellet and supernatant samples from both studies were collected at regular time intervals, and their metabolite profiles were investigated. The primary finding from the metabolic analysis was that the cells in LP conditions exhibited a less efficient energy metabolism, with glucose primarily being converted into pyruvate, sorbitol, lactate, and other glycolytic intermediates. This decrease in energy efficiency may be due to an inability of pyruvate and acetyl-CoA to progress into the TCA cycle. The lack of progression into the TCA cycle or overflow metabolism in the LP phenotype resulted in the inadequate supply of ATP for the cells. As a consequence, the glycolysis pathway remained the major source of ATP, which in turn, resulted in continuous LP throughout the culture. In addition, the accumulation of free fatty acids was observed; this was thought to be a result of phospholipid catabolism that was being used to supplement the energy produced through glycolysis in order to meet the needs of LP cells. A thorough review of the metabolic profiles indicated that the lactate metabolic shift could be related to the oxidative metabolic capacity of cells.

Exploration of overloaded cation exchange chromatography for monoclonal antibody purification.

Cation exchange chromatography using conventional resins, having either diffusive or perfusive flow paths, operated in bind-elute mode has been commonly employed in monoclonal antibody (MAb) purification processes. In this study, the performance of diffusive and perfusive cation exchange resins (SP-Sepharose FF (SPSFF) and Poros 50HS) and a convective cation exchange membrane (Mustang S) and monolith (SO(3) Monolith) were compared. All matrices were utilized in an isocratic state under typical binding conditions with an antibody load of up to 1000 g/L of chromatographic matrix. The dynamic binding capacity of the cation exchange resins is typically below 100 g/L resin, so they were loaded beyond the point of anticipated MAb break through. All of the matrices performed similarly in that they effectively retained host cell protein and DNA during the loading and wash steps, while antibody flowed through each matrix after its dynamic binding capacity was reached. The matrices differed, though, in that conventional diffusive and perfusive chromatographic resins (SPSFF and Poros 50HS) demonstrated a higher binding capacity for high molecular weight species (HMW) than convective flow matrices (membrane and monolith); Poros 50HS displayed the highest HMW binding capacity. Further exploration of the conventional chromatographic resins in an isocratic overloaded mode demonstrated that the impurity binding capacity was well maintained on Poros 50HS, but not on SPSFF, when the operating flow rate was as high as 36 column volumes per hour. Host cell protein and HMW removal by Poros 50HS was affected by altering the loading conductivity. A higher percentage of host cell protein removal was achieved at a low conductivity of 3 mS/cm. HMW binding capacity was optimized at 5 mS/cm. Our data from runs on Poros 50HS resin also showed that leached protein A and cell culture additive such as gentamicin were able to be removed under the isocratic overloaded condition. Lastly, a MAb purification process employing protein A affinity chromatography, isocratic overloaded cation exchange chromatography using Poros 50HS and anion exchange chromatography using QSFF in flow through mode was compared with the MAb's commercial manufacturing process, which consisted of protein A affinity chromatography, cation exchange chromatography using SPSFF in bind-elute mode and anion exchange chromatography using QSFF in flow through mode. Comparable step yield and impurity clearance were obtained by the two processes.

Engineering an improved acellular nerve graft via optimized chemical processing.

The long-term goal of our research is to engineer an acellular nerve graft for clinical nerve repair and for use as a model system with which to study nerve-extracellular matrix interactions during nerve regeneration. To develop this model acellular nerve graft we (1) examined the effects of detergents on peripheral nerve tissue, and (2) used that knowledge to create a nerve graft devoid of cells with a well-preserved extracellular matrix. Using histochemistry and Western analysis, the impact of each detergent on cellular and extracellular tissue components was determined. An optimized protocol was created with the detergents Triton X-200, sulfobetaine-16, and sulfobetaine-10. This study represents the most comprehensive examination to date of the effects of detergents on peripheral nerve tissue morphology and protein composition. Also presented is an improved chemical decellularization protocol that preserves the internal structure of native nerve more than the predominant current protocol.

Optimized acellular nerve graft is immunologically tolerated and supports regeneration.

To replace the autologous graft as a clinical treatment of peripheral nerve injuries we developed an optimized acellular (OA) nerve graft that retains the extracellular structure of peripheral nerve tissue via an improved chemical decellularization treatment. The process removes cellular membranes from tissue, thus eliminating the antigens responsible for allograft rejection. In the present study, the immunogenicity and regenerative capacity of the OA grafts were tested. Histological examination of the levels of CD(8+) cells and macrophages that infiltrated the OA grafts suggested that the decellularization process averted cell-mediated rejection of the grafts. In a subsequent experiment, regeneration in OA grafts was compared with that in isografts (comparable to the clinical autograft) and two published acellular graft models. After 84 days, the axon density at the midpoints of OA grafts was statistically indistinguishable from that in isografts, 910% higher than in the thermally decellularized model described by Gulati (J. Neurosurg. 68, 117, 1988), and 401% higher than in the chemically decellularized model described by Sondell et al. (Brain Res. 795, 44, 1998). In summary, the results imply that OA grafts are immunologically tolerated and that the removal of cellular material and preservation of the matrix are beneficial for promoting regeneration through an acellular nerve graft.