Multiproduct high-resolution monoclonal antibody charge variant separations by pH gradient ion-exchange chromatography.

In the biotechnology industry, ion-exchange chromatography is widely used for profiling the charge heterogeneity of proteins, including monoclonal antibodies. Ionic strength based ion exchange separations, while having excellent resolving power and robustness, are product specific and time-consuming to develop. In the present work, a pH gradient based separation using a cation exchange column is described and shown to be a multiproduct charge sensitive separation method for monoclonal antibodies. Simple mixtures of defined buffer components were used to generate the pH-gradients that separate closely related antibody species. The form of the pH gradient was controlled and optimized by the pump as well as the buffer composition if necessary. During this work, the buffer compositions for the separation were optimized in parallel for several MAbs. The data shows that the multiproduct method is optimal for all of the MAbs studied. Operational aspects of the separation such as column chemistry, column length, and sample matrix indicate a very robust method. The pH gradient ion-exchange method is demonstrated to have significant resolving power and peak capacities far in excess of what we would expect for ionic strength elution ion-exchange. Data obtained demonstrates that the separation is relatively insensitive to column length. Direct analysis (no buffer exchange) of samples in matrixes consistent with in-process manufacturing pools is demonstrated. Such a capability is extremely useful for the high throughput evaluation of in-process and final product samples.

Expression vector-derived heterogeneity in a therapeutic IgG4 monoclonal antibody.

While characterizing a therapeutic IgG4 monoclonal antibody (mAb), we observed a variant with a mass 1177 Da larger than the predominant mAb form that could not be ascribed to previously described modifications. Through successive rounds of experimentation, we localized the mass addition to the C-terminus of the heavy chain (HC). During this process we observed that when the mAb was broken down into separate domains, the Fc and the 1177 Da-modified Fc could be chromatographically separated. Separation allowed collection of native and modified Fc fractions for LC/MS peptide mapping. A unique peptide present in the modified fraction was de novo sequenced and demonstrated to be a modified form of the HC C-terminus lacking two native residues (GK) and gaining twelve additional non-native residues (EAEAASASELFQ). Aware of other mAb variants with genetic origins, we sought to understand whether this modification too had a genetic basis. In silico translation of the expression vector encoding the mAb demonstrated that a normally non-coding section of nucleotides in the + 1 reading frame relative to the HC C-terminal coding region could have led to a transcript with the non-native C-terminal extension. Two potential mechanisms for how this nucleotide sequence might have fused to the native HC coding region and led to expression of the extension product are presented.

Capillary ion-exchange chromatography with nanogram sensitivity for the analysis of monoclonal antibodies.

Ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) is widely used for profiling the charge heterogeneity of proteins, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Despite good resolving power and robustness, ionic strength-based ion-exchange separations are generally product specific and can be time consuming to develop. In addition, conventional analytical scale ion-exchange separations require tens of micrograms of mAbs for each injection, amounts that are often unavailable in sample-limited applications. We report the development of a capillary IEC (c-IEC) methodology for the analysis of nanogram amounts of mAb charge variants. Several key modifications were made to a commercially available liquid chromatography system to perform c-IEC for charge variant analysis of mAbs with nanogram sensitivity. We demonstrate the method for multiple monoclonal antibodies, including antibody fragments, on different columns from different manufacturers. Relative standard deviations of <10% were achieved for relative peak areas of main peak, acidic and basic regions, which are common regions of interest for quantifying monoclonal antibody charge variants using IEC. The results herein demonstrate the excellent sensitivity of this c-IEC characterization method, which can be used for analyzing charge variants in sample-limited applications, such as early-stage candidate screening and in vivo studies.

Improving pH gradient cation-exchange chromatography of monoclonal antibodies by controlling ionic strength.

Analytical ion exchange chromatography (IEC) is widely used to profile the charge heterogeneity of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Since conventional salt gradient IEC methods are product-specific and time-consuming to develop, a previously reported alternative pH gradient IEC (pH-IEC) method using a cation-exchange column has been shown to be a multiproduct charge sensitive separation method for mAbs with isoelectric points between 7.3 and 9.0. In the work presented here, we have extended the application of that pH-IEC method to also profile the charge heterogeneity of mAbs with extreme pI values (e.g. acidic with pI<7 or basic with pI>9). A key observation of our work is that for the buffer systems used by Farnan and Moreno, the ionic strength of the mobile phase containing multiple polyamine buffers is pH and concentration dependent, and the ionic strength decreases when the pH increases. For the mobile phase with high buffer concentration the ionic strength is high at low pH values, leading to the flow through of acidic mAbs on the cation-exchange column. The basic mAbs may not have an optimal elution profile as the relatively low ionic strength of the mobile phase reduces the resolution of pH-IEC. To modulate the ionic strength, we introduced a salt gradient in addition to the pH gradient. Studies were performed to optimize the buffer and salt concentrations simultaneously to improve the retention of low pI mAbs and the resolution of high pI mAbs. The optimized salt-mediated pH-IEC method was not only applicable to mAbs over a broader pI range from 6.2 to 9.4, but also offered better resolution for mAbs with pI values between 7.3 and 9.0 than the previously reported pH-IEC method. This salt-mediated pH-IEC method was demonstrated to be robust at various chromatography conditions and capable of assessing manufacturing consistency and monitoring degradation of mAbs.

Development of capillary size exclusion chromatography for the analysis of monoclonal antibody fragments extracted from human vitreous humor.

Recombinant antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) are currently on the market and in development for the treatment of ophthalmologic indications. Recently, Quality by Design (QbD) initiatives have been implemented that emphasize understanding the relationship between quality attributes of the product and their impact on safety and efficacy. In particular, changes in product quality once the protein is administered to the patient are of particular interest. Knowledge of protein aggregation in vivo is of importance due to the possibility of antibody aggregates eliciting an immunogenic response in the patient. Presently, there are few analytical methods with adequate sensitivity to analyze Fab aggregates in human vitreous humor (HVH) because the Fab amount available for analysis is often quite low. Here, we report the development of a highly sensitive capillary size exclusion chromatography (SEC) methodology for Fab aggregate analysis in HVH. We demonstrate a process to perform capillary SEC to analyze Fabs with picogram sensitivity and an RSD of less than 8% for the relative peak area of high molecular weight species (HMWS). In addition, we have developed a Protein G affinity chromatography method to capture Fabs from HVH for capillary SEC analysis. Recovery efficiencies ranging from 86 to 99% were achieved using this recovery method with 300 µL HVH samples containing Fab1. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of the methodology by quantifying Fab aggregates in HVH, which can potentially be used for aggregate analysis of clinically relevant samples.

Capillary size exclusion chromatography with picogram sensitivity for analysis of monoclonal antibodies purified from harvested cell culture fluid.

Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is widely used in the characterization and quality control of therapeutic proteins to detect aggregates. Aggregation is a carefully monitored quality attribute from the earliest stages of clinical development owing to the possibility of eliciting an immunogenic response in the patient. During early stage molecule assessment for cell culture production, small-scale screening experiments are performed to permit rapid turn-around of results so as to not delay timelines. We report the development of a capillary SEC methodology for preliminary molecule assessment to support the evaluation of therapeutic candidates at an early stage of development. By making several key modifications to a commercially available liquid chromatography system, we demonstrate a platform process to perform capillary SEC with excellent precision, picogram sensitivity and good ruggedness. The limit of quantitation was determined to be approximately 15 pg; picogram sensitivity for SEC analysis of monoclonal antibodies had not been achieved prior to this work. In addition, we have developed a method to capture low levels of antibody (1 µg/mL) from harvested cell culture fluid (HCCF) for capillary SEC analysis. Up to 40% recovery efficiency was achieved using this micro-recovery method on 3 mL HCCF samples. Using early stage cell culture transient transfection samples, which typically have much lower titers than stable cell line samples, we demonstrate a consistent method for analyzing aggregates in low protein concentration HCCF samples for molecule assessment and early stage candidate screening.

Validation of a pH gradient-based ion-exchange chromatography method for high-resolution monoclonal antibody charge variant separations.

Ion-exchange chromatography is widely used for profiling the charge heterogeneity of proteins, including monoclonal antibodies. Despite good resolving power and robustness, ionic strength-based ion-exchange separations are product-specific and time-consuming to develop. We have previously reported a novel pH-based separation of proteins by cation exchange chromatography that was multi-product, high-resolution, and robust against variations in sample matrix salt concentration and pH. In this study, a pH gradient-based separation method using cation exchange chromatography was evaluated in a mock validation. This method was shown to be robust for monoclonal antibodies and suitable for its intended purpose of charge heterogeneity analysis. Simple mixtures of defined buffer components were used to generate the pH gradients that separated closely related antibody species. Validation characteristics, such as precision and linearity, were evaluated. Robustness to changes in protein load, buffer pH and column oven temperature was demonstrated. The stability-indicating capability of this method was determined using thermally stressed antibody samples. In addition, intermediate precision was demonstrated using multiple instruments, multiple analysts, multiple column lots, and different column manufacturers. Finally, the precision for this method was compared to conventional ion-exchange chromatography and imaged capillary isoelectric focusing. These results demonstrate the superior precision and robustness of this multi-product method, which can be used for the high-throughput evaluation of in-process and final product samples.

Interlaced size exclusion liquid chromatography of monoclonal antibodies.

Size exclusion chromatography is a widely performed analysis of monoclonal antibodies, primarily used to monitor the levels of higher weight molecular species such as aggregates. Owing to the subtleties of these separation mechanisms and frequently observed partial resolutions of components in these separations, many common methods for increasing the method throughput are not practical as they trade off resolution for speed. Short columns, high flow rates and smaller particles are examples of these approaches. In this paper a practical method is demonstrated for injecting samples onto the column in rapid succession and gating the detection window to monitor the elution of each sample individually. At any given instant approximately two samples are eluting through the column. By co-ordinating the injection and detection time windows the samples can be kept discrete and significant throughput enhancements achieved, up to nearly 2-fold improvements are demonstrated. A rudimentary theory is development to show that the throughput improvements can be predicted to approximation by simple column characteristics. Experimental results for a series of monoclonal antibodies demonstrate the equivalency of the method to a conventional injection approach, the throughput increase, and the robustness of the method.