Precipitation as an Enabling Technology for the Intensification of Biopharmaceutical Manufacture.

Advances in precipitation have demonstrated the capability of purifying therapeutic proteins such as antibodies from biological sources in a scalable and cost-effective manner. We discuss the latest developments in the unit operation for downstream processing applications and provide a perspective on exploring precipitation for bioprocess intensification.

Effect of polyol sugars on the stabilization of monoclonal antibodies.

We investigate the impact of sugars and polyols on the heat-induced aggregation of a model monoclonal antibody whose monomer depletion is rate-limited by protein unfolding. We follow the kinetics of monomer consumption by size exclusion chromatography, and we interpret the results in the frame of two mechanistic schemes describing the enhanced protein stability in the presence of polyols. It is found that the stabilization effect increases with increasing polyol concentration with a comparable trend for all of the tested polyols. However, the stabilization effect at a given polyol concentration is polyol specific. In particular, the stabilization effect increases as a function of polyol size until a plateau is reached above a critical polyol size corresponding to six carbon atoms. Our results show that the stabilization by polyols does not depend solely on the volume fraction filled by the polyol molecules, but is also affected by the polyol chemistry.

Role of cosolutes in the aggregation kinetics of monoclonal antibodies.

We propose a general strategy based on kinetic analysis to investigate how cosolutes affect the aggregation behavior of therapeutic proteins. We apply this approach to study the impact of NaCl and sorbitol on the aggregation kinetics of two monoclonal antibodies, an IgG1 and an IgG2. By using a combination of size exclusion chromatography and light scattering techniques, we study the impact of the cosolutes on the monomer depletion, as well as on the formation of dimers, trimers, and larger aggregates. We analyze these macroscopic effects in the frame of a kinetic model based on Smoluchowski's population balance equations modified to account for nucleation events. By comparing experimental data with model simulations, we discriminate the effect of cosolutes on the elementary steps which contribute to the global aggregation process. In the case of the IgG1, it is found that NaCl accelerates the kinetics of aggregation by promoting specifically aggregation events, while sorbitol delays the kinetics of aggregation by specifically inhibiting protein unfolding. In the case of the IgG2, whose monomer depletion kinetics is limited by dimer formation, NaCl and sorbitol are found respectively to accelerate and inhibit conformational changes and aggregation events to the same extent.

Kinetic analysis of the multistep aggregation mechanism of monoclonal antibodies.

We investigate by kinetic analysis the aggregation mechanism of two monoclonal antibodies belonging to the IgG1 and IgG2 subclass under thermal stress. For each IgG, we apply a combination of size exclusion chromatography and light scattering techniques to resolve the time evolution of the monomer, dimer, and trimer concentrations, as well as the average molecular weight and the average hydrodynamic radius of the aggregate distribution. By combining the detailed experimental characterization with a theoretical kinetic model based on population balance equations, we extract relevant information on the contribution of the individual elementary steps on the global aggregation process. The analysis shows that the two molecules follow different aggregation pathways under the same operating conditions. In particular, while the monomer depletion of the IgG1 is found to be rate-limited by monomeric conformational changes, bimolecular collision is identified as the rate-limiting step in the IgG2 aggregation process. The measurement of the microscopic rate constants by kinetic analysis allows the quantification of the protein-protein interaction potentials expressed in terms of the Fuchs stability ratio (W). It is found that the antibody solutions exhibit large W values, which are several orders of magnitude larger than the values computed in the frame of the DLVO theory. This indicates that, besides net electrostatic repulsion, additional effects delay the aggregation kinetics of the antibody solutions with respect to diffusion-limited conditions. These effects likely include the limited efficiency of the collision events due to the presence of a limited number of specific aggregation-prone patches on the heterogeneous protein surface, and the contribution of additional repulsive non-DLVO forces to the protein-protein interaction potential, such as hydration forces.

A Process Analytical Technology (PAT) approach to control a new API manufacturing process: development, validation and implementation.

Pharmaceutical companies are progressively adopting and introducing Process Analytical Technology (PAT) and Quality-by-Design (QbD) concepts promoted by the regulatory agencies, aiming the building of the quality directly into the product by combining thorough scientific understanding and quality risk management. An analytical method based on near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was developed as a PAT tool to control on-line an API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacturing crystallization step during which the API and residual solvent contents need to be precisely determined to reach the predefined seeding point. An original methodology based on the QbD principles was designed to conduct the development and validation of the NIR method and to ensure that it is fitted for its intended use. On this basis, Partial least squares (PLS) models were developed and optimized using chemometrics methods. The method was fully validated according to the ICH Q2(R1) guideline and using the accuracy profile approach. The dosing ranges were evaluated to 9.0-12.0% w/w for the API and 0.18-1.50% w/w for the residual methanol. As by nature the variability of the sampling method and the reference method are included in the variability obtained for the NIR method during the validation phase, a real-time process monitoring exercise was performed to prove its fit for purpose. The implementation of this in-process control (IPC) method on the industrial plant from the launch of the new API synthesis process will enable automatic control of the final crystallization step in order to ensure a predefined quality level of the API. In addition, several valuable benefits are expected including reduction of the process time, suppression of a rather difficult sampling and tedious off-line analyses.