Improved endotoxin removal using ecofriendly detergents for intensified plasmid capture.

Increasing plasmid demand for both production of viral and gene therapies as well as nucleic acid based vaccines has highlighted bottlenecks in production. One bottleneck is traditional bead-based chromatography as a capture step. To meet the needs of fast-growing markets, new production solutions are needed. These solutions must enable efficient capture of a diverse range of plasmid types and excellent clearance of bacterial host impurities, such as endotoxin. Enhanced endotoxin clearance during chromatographic purification has previously been demonstrated with detergents such as Triton™ X-100. However, degradation products of Triton™ X-100 are known to have a negative environmental impact, and more sustainable, environmentally benign alternatives have been identified. This work establishes an efficient, intensified plasmid capture using convective anion exchange (AEX) chromatography. The feasibility of the intensified capture approach was assessed with different membrane and a monolith AEX supports. Various detergents from different physico-chemical classes were evaluated with different AEX technologies. Purification efficiency evaluated endotoxin and host cell protein (HCP) clearance, plasmid yield, potential interference of the detergents with analytical in-process control assays, and overall process compatibility. This comprehensive screening approach provides valuable insights to intensified plasmid production.

Cation exchange chromatography in antibody purification: pH screening for optimised binding and HCP removal.

The production of pharmaceutical antibodies requires reliable and rapid processes with high purity and yield. Although protein A gels selectively and efficiently bind antibodies in the capture step, intense research is going on to find alternatives that can abolish the drawbacks of protein A chromatography. Ion exchangers e.g. are more robust, considerably cheaper and can eliminate ligand leaching. For the strong cation exchangers Fractogel EMD SO3- (M) and Fractogel EMD SE Hicap (M) we have evaluated the influence of pH for optimised binding and removal of host cell protein (HCP). In a fast initial screening we measured batch binding capacities. Subsequent scale-down to 96-well plate format proved that assay miniaturisation still provided reliable data. We demonstrated with the principle of residence time that scout columns are suitable for dynamic studies. The optimum pH range from batch binding was transferred to scout columns which were then used to screen for maximum dynamic capacities. In addition IEF titration curve analysis was employed to define a final operational pH. With this pH we ran labscale columns to purify monoclonal antibody. The cation exchangers showed high step yields and host cell proteins in the pools from gradient elution were reduced very effectively.

Development of pseudo-linear gradient elution for high-throughput resin selectivity screening in RoboColumn® Format.

Rapid development of chromatographic processes relies on effective high-throughput screening (HTS) methods. This article describes the development of pseudo-linear gradient elution for resin selectivity screening using RoboColumns® . It gives guidelines for the implementation of this HTS method on a Tecan Freedom EVO® robotic platform, addressing fundamental aspects of scale down and liquid handling. The creation of a flexible script for buffer preparation and column operation plus efficient data processing provided the basis for this work. Based on the concept of discretization, linear gradient elution was transformed into multistep gradients. The impact of column size, flow rate, multistep gradient design, and fractionation scheme on separation efficiency was systematically investigated, using a ternary model protein mixture. We identified key parameters and defined optimal settings for effective column performance. For proof of concept, we examined the selectivity of several cation exchange resins using various buffer conditions. The final protocol enabled a clear differentiation of resin selectivity on miniature chromatography column (MCC) scale. Distinct differences in separation behavior of individual resins and the influence of buffer conditions could be demonstrated. Results obtained with the robotic platform were representative and consistent with data generated on a conventional chromatography system. A study on antibody monomer/high molecular weight separation comparing MCC and lab scale under higher loading conditions provided evidence of the applicability of the miniaturized approach to practically relevant feedstocks with challenging separation tasks as well as of the predictive quality for larger scale. A comparison of varying degrees of robotic method complexity with corresponding effort (analysis time and labware consumption) and output quality highlights tradeoffs to select a method appropriate for a given separation challenge or analytical constraints. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1503-1519, 2016.