AAV process intensification by perfusion bioreaction and integrated clarification.

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) demand for clinical trials and approved therapeutic applications is increasing due to this vector's overall success and potential. The high doses associated with administration strategies challenges bioprocess engineers to develop more efficient technologies and innovative strategies capable of increasing volumetric productivity. In this study, alternating tangential flow (ATF) and Tangential Flow Depth filtration (TFDF) techniques were compared as to their potential for 1) implementing a high-cell-density perfusion process to produce AAV8 using mammalian HEK293 cells and transient transfection, and 2) integrating AAV harvest and clarification units into a single step. On the first topic, the results obtained demonstrate that AAV expression improves with a medium exchange strategy. This was evidenced firstly in the small-scale perfusion-mocking study and later verified in the 2 L bioreactor operated in perfusion mode. Fine-tuning the shear rate in ATF and TFDF proved instrumental in maintaining high cell viabilities and, most importantly, enhancing AAV-specific titers (7.6 × 104 VG/cell), i.e., up to 4-fold compared to non-optimized perfusion cultures and 2-fold compared with batch operation mode. Regarding the second objective, TFDF enabled the highest recovery yields during perfusion-based continuous harvest of extracellular virus and lysate clarification. This study demonstrates that ATF and TFDF techniques have the potential to support the production and continuous harvest of AAV, and enable an integrated clarification procedure, contributing to the simplification of operations and improving manufacturing efficiency.

Modeling the Downstream Processing of Monoclonal Antibodies Reveals Cost Advantages for Continuous Methods for a Broad Range of Manufacturing Scales.

The biopharmaceutical industry is evolving in response to changing market conditions, including increasing competition and growing pressures to reduce costs. Single-use (SU) technologies and continuous bioprocessing have attracted attention as potential facilitators of cost-optimized manufacturing for monoclonal antibodies. While disposable bioprocessing has been adopted at many scales of manufacturing, continuous bioprocessing has yet to reach the same level of implementation. In this study, the cost of goods of Pall Life Science's integrated, continuous bioprocessing (ICB) platform is modeled, along with that of purification processes in stainless-steel and SU batch formats. All three models include costs associated with downstream processing only. Evaluation of the models across a broad range of clinical and commercial scenarios reveal that the cost savings gained by switching from stainless-steel to SU batch processing are often amplified by continuous operation. The continuous platform exhibits the lowest cost of goods across 78% of all scenarios modeled here, with the SU batch process having the lowest costs in the rest of the cases. The relative savings demonstrated by the continuous process are greatest at the highest feed titers and volumes. These findings indicate that existing and imminent continuous technologies and equipment can become key enablers for more cost effective manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals.

Universal label-free in-process quantification of influenza virus-like particles.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are becoming established as vaccines, in particular for influenza pandemics, increasing the interest in the development of VLPs manufacturing bioprocess. However, for complex VLPs, the analytical tools used for quantification are not yet able to keep up with the bioprocess progress. Currently, quantification for Influenza relies on traditional methods: hemagglutination assay or Single Radial Immunodiffusion. These analytical technologies are time-consuming, cumbersome, and not supportive of efficient downstream process development and monitoring. Hereby we report a label-free tool that uses Biolayer interferometry (BLI) technology applied on an Octet platform to quantify Influenza VLPs at all stages of bioprocess. Human (α2,6-linked sialic acid) and avian (α2,3-linked sialic acid) biotinylated receptors associated with streptavidin biosensors were used, to quantify hemagglutinin content in several mono- and multivalent Influenza VLPs. The applied method was able to quantify hemagglutinin from crude samples up to final bioprocessing VLP product. BLI technology confirmed its value as a high throughput analytical tool with high sensitivity and improved detection limits compared to traditional methods. This simple and fast method allowed for real-time results, which are crucial for in-line monitoring of downstream processing, improving process development, control and optimization.

Transfer of a three step mAb chromatography process from batch to continuous: Optimizing productivity to minimize consumable requirements.

The goal of this study was to adapt a batch mAb purification chromatography platform for continuous operation. The experiments and rationale used to convert from batch to continuous operation are described. Experimental data was used to design chromatography methods for continuous operation that would exceed the threshold for critical quality attributes and minimize the consumables required as compared to batch mode of operation. Four unit operations comprising of Protein A capture, viral inactivation, flow-through anion exchange (AEX), and mixed-mode cation exchange chromatography (MMCEX) were integrated across two Cadence BioSMB PD multi-column chromatography systems in order to process a 25L volume of harvested cell culture fluid (HCCF) in less than 12h. Transfer from batch to continuous resulted in an increase in productivity of the Protein A step from 13 to 50g/L/h and of the MMCEX step from 10 to 60g/L/h with no impact on the purification process performance in term of contaminant removal (4.5 log reduction of host cell proteins, 50% reduction in soluble product aggregates) and overall chromatography process yield of recovery (75%). The increase in productivity, combined with continuous operation, reduced the resin volume required for Protein A and MMCEX chromatography by more than 95% compared to batch. The volume of AEX membrane required for flow through operation was reduced by 74%. Moreover, the continuous process required 44% less buffer than an equivalent batch process. This significant reduction in consumables enables cost-effective, disposable, single-use manufacturing.

Characterization of cross-linked cellulosic ion-exchange adsorbents: 2. Protein sorption and transport.

Adsorption behavior in the HyperCel family of cellulosic ion-exchange materials (Pall Corporation) was characterized using methods to assess, quantitatively and qualitatively, the dynamics of protein uptake as well as static adsorption as a function of ionic strength and protein concentration using several model proteins. The three exchangers studied all presented relatively high adsorptive capacities under low ionic strength conditions, comparable to commercially available resins containing polymer functionalization aimed at increasing that particular characteristic. The strong cation- and anion-exchange moieties showed higher sensitivity to increasing salt concentrations, but protein affinity on the salt-tolerant STAR AX HyperCel exchanger remained strong at ionic strengths normally used in downstream processing to elute material fully during ion-exchange chromatography. Very high uptake rates were observed in both batch kinetics experiments and time-series confocal laser scanning microscopy, suggesting low intraparticle transport resistances relative to external film resistance, even at higher bulk protein concentrations where the opposite is typically observed. Electron microscopy imaging of protein adsorbed phases provided additional insight into particle structure that could not be resolved in previous work on the bare resins.

A straightforward methodology for designing continuous monoclonal antibody capture multi-column chromatography processes.

A simple process development strategy for continuous capture multi-column chromatography (MCC) is described. The approach involves a few single column breakthrough experiments, based on several simplifying observations that enable users to rapidly convert batch processes into well-designed multi-column processes. The method was validated using a BioSMB(®) (Pall Life Sciences) lab scale multi-column system and a mAb capture process employing Protein A resin. The approach enables users to optimize MCC processes based on their internal preferences and constraints without requiring any mathematical modeling expertise.

Combined Protein A and size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography for the single-step measurement of mAb, aggregates and host cell proteins.

Quantification of monoclonal antibody (mAb) monomer, mAb aggregates, and host cell proteins (HCPs) is critical for the optimization of the mAb production process. The present work describes a single high throughput analytical tool capable of tracking the concentration of mAb, mAb aggregate and HCPs in a growing cell culture batch. By combining two analytical HPLC methods, Protein A affinity and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), it is possible to detect a relative increase or decrease in the concentration of all three entities simultaneously. A comparison of the combined Protein A-SEC assay to SEC alone was performed, demonstrating that it can be useful tool for the quantification of mAb monomer along with trending data for mAb aggregate and HCP. Furthermore, the study shows that the Protein A-SEC method is at least as accurate as other commonly used analytical methods such as ELISA and Bradford.

Dedicated removal of immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgM, and Factor (F)XI/activated FXI from human plasma IgG.

BACKGROUND: Adverse events can be associated with treating critically ill patients with immunoglobulin (Ig)G. Some adverse events are due to contaminants like IgA and activated Factor (F)XI. Therefore, new purification strategies are needed for dedicated removal of these contaminants without impairing IgG recovery. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: An immunoglobulin fraction containing IgG, IgM, and IgA was prepared by caprylic acid precipitation of cryoprecipitate-poor plasma. The capacities of the cation exchangers (S HyperCel and CM Ceramic HyperD F) and anion exchangers (HyperCel STAR AX and Q HyperCel) to remove IgA, IgM, and spiked FXI were tested following a design of experiment approach using microplates and chromatographic column scale-up. FXI removal was also evaluated using Mustang S chromatographic membranes. IgG/IgG subclasses, IgA, IgM, and FXI were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and caprylic acid, by gas chromatography. RESULTS: Extensive removal of IgA and IgM, but not FXI, was achieved by a two-step chromatographic process combining S HyperCel used in the IgG binding and elution mode and HyperCel STAR AX used in the IgG flow-through mode, providing high IgG and IgG subclass recovery (>85%), high purity (>99.5%), and efficient removal of IgA (<0.5%) and IgM (undetectable). Twenty-six-fold FXI removal was achieved by processing the resulting purified IgG fraction through Mustang S cation-exchanger membranes at pH 6.0 and 12.7 mS/cm. Caprylic acid was removed by S HyperCel. CONCLUSIONS: Combining S HyperCel and HyperCel STAR AX extensively removed IgA and IgM, with good IgG recovery. Mustang® S membranes can be used for dedicated removal of FXI.

Characterization of cross-linked cellulosic ion-exchange adsorbents: 1. Structural properties.

The structural characteristics of the HyperCel family of cellulosic ion-exchange materials (Pall Corporation) were assessed using methods to gauge the pore dimensions and the effect of ionic strength on intraparticle architecture. Inverse size exclusion chromatography (ISEC) was applied to the S and STAR AX HyperCel derivatives. The theoretical analysis yielded an average pore radius for each material of about 5nm, with a particularly narrow pore-size distribution. Electron microscopy techniques were used to visualize the particle structure and relate it to macroscopic experimental data. Microscopy of Q and STAR AX HyperCel anion exchangers presented some qualitative differences in pore structure that can be attributed to the derivatization using conventional quaternary ammonium and salt-tolerant ligands, respectively. Finally, the effect of ionic strength was studied through the use of salt breakthrough experiments to determine to what extent Donnan exclusion plays a role in restricting the accessible pore volume for small ions. It was determined that Donnan effects were prevalent at total ionic strengths (TIS) less than 150mM, suggesting the presence of a ligand-containing partitioning volume within the pore space.

"Salt tolerant" anion exchange chromatography for direct capture of an acidic protein from CHO cell culture.

The present study describes the use of the new HyperCel STAR AX "salt tolerant" anion exchange sorbent for the capture from Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell culture supernatant (CCS) of an acidic model protein (α-amylase). HyperCel STAR AX sorbent and other conventional anion exchangers were evaluated to purify biologically-active enzyme. Salt tolerance of the sorbent allowed reaching 5-fold higher dynamic binding capacity than conventional anion exchange during capture of the enzyme from neat (undiluted) CCS. After optimization of operating conditions, HyperCel STAR AX turned out to be the only sorbent allowing efficient protein capture directly from both neat and diluted CCS with consistent and satisfying purity, yield and productivity. Therefore implementation of the salt tolerant sorbent in industrial purification processes should allow avoiding time and cost consuming steps such as dilution or UF/DF that exclusively aim at establishing suitable conditions for ion exchange step without bringing any added value to the purification process performance. Altogether this study highlights the flexibility and cost-reduction potential brought in process design by the HyperCel STAR AX salt tolerant sorbent.

Antibody capture by mixed-mode chromatography: a comprehensive study from determination of optimal purification conditions to identification of contaminating host cell proteins.

We evaluated mixed mode chromatography for the capture of recombinant antibodies from CHO cell culture supernatants. We studied PPA HyperCel, HEA HyperCel, MEP HyperCel and Capto adhere resins, which all contain hydrophobic and cationic groups. A microplate approach combined with DoE modeling allowed the exploration of the complex behaviors of these mixed mode resins. Optimal conditions for antibody purification and host cell proteins (HCPs) elimination were determined and then directly up-scaled to laboratory columns. Then we used mass spectrometry to identify the major HCPs potentially coeluted with the antibody. Differences between the four resins in terms of amount, complexity and identity of the HCPs present in the elution fractions were investigated.

Designing new monoclonal antibody purification processes using mixed-mode chromatography sorbents.

Current platforms for purification of monoclonal antibodies, mostly relying on Protein A as a first capture step, are robust and efficient but significantly increase downstream purification costs, mainly due to Protein A resins. To decrease manufacturing costs, industry is increasingly considering the use of purification schemes without affinity Protein A resins. Mixed-mode chromatography can be used as a powerful alternative to standard purification platforms as it offers new selectivity and separation mechanisms exploiting a combination of both ionic and hydrophobic characteristics of antibodies and contaminating proteins. By using a design of experiments (DoE) approach and high throughput screening in 96-well plates, we developed four different two-steps MAb purification processes, based on the use of mixed-mode sorbents. Finally, three of the tested processes resulted in final purified Mab fractions containing less than 100 ppm of residual CHO proteins (CHOP), with overall process yields above 70%. These data show that mixed-mode chromatography sorbents, used at capture or intermediate purification steps, really expand the options of MAb purification process development with or without Protein A affinity chromatography.