Erik K. Read

Process Analytical Technology (PAT) for Biopharmaceutical Products: Part I. Concepts and Applications

Process analytical technology (PAT) has been gaining momentum in the biotech community due to the potential for continuous real‐time quality assurance resulting in improved operational control and compliance. In this two part series, we address PAT as it applies to processes that produce biotech therapeutic products. In the first part, we address evolution of the underlying concepts and applications in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. We also present a literature review of applications in the areas of upstream and downstream processing to illustrate how implementation of PAT can help realize advanced approaches to ensuring product quality in real time. In the second part, we will explore similar applications in the areas of drug product manufacturing, rapid microbiology, and chemometrics as well as evolution of PAT in biotech processing. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010; 105: 276–284. Published 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fermentanomics informed amino acid supplementation of an antibody producing mammalian cell culture

Fermentanomics, or a global understanding of a culture state on the molecular level empowered by advanced techniques like NMR, was employed to show that a model hybridoma culture supplied with glutamine and glucose depletes aspartate, cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, and tyrosine during antibody production. Supplementation with these amino acids prevents depletion and improves culture performance. Furthermore, no significant changes were observed in the distribution of glycans attached to the IgG3 in cultures supplemented with specific amino acids, arguing that this strategy can be implemented without fear of impact on important product quality attributes. In summary, a targeted strategy of quantifying media components and designing a supplementation strategy can improve bioprocess cell cultures when enpowered by fermentanomics tools. Published 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 29:745–753, 2013

Industry and regulatory experience of the glycosylation of monoclonal antibodies

We surveyed 23 antibody‐related marketing applications for glycoform analytical and functional information. Our database analysis shows a clear trend of increasing sophistication of analytical methods used to identify and quantify glycans. These have revealed a high degree of complexity and heterogeneity of glycans attached to antibody products. The nature of the complexity is influenced by product type and expression system, and may be associated with functional consequences in some but not all cases.

Impact of controlled ice nucleation on process performance and quality attributes of a lyophilized monoclonal antibody.

An efficient and potentially scalable technology was evaluated to control the ice nucleation step of the freezing process for a model monoclonal antibody formulation and the effect on process performance and quality attributes of the final lyophilized product was compared with the conventional shelf ramping method of freezing. Controlled ice nucleation resulted in uniform nucleation at temperatures between -2.3 and -3.2 °C while uncontrolled nucleation resulted in random nucleation at temperatures between -10 and -16.4 °C. The sublimation rate (dm/dt) during primary drying was higher in the controlled nucleation cycle (0.13 g/h/vial) than in the uncontrolled nucleation cycle (0.11 g/h/vial). This was due to the formation of larger ice crystals, leading to lower product resistance (Rp) and 19% reduction in the primary drying for the controlled nucleation cycle. Controlled ice nucleation resulted in lyophilized cakes with more acceptable appearance, no visible collapse or shrinkage and decreased reconstitution times compared with uncontrolled nucleation. There were no observed differences in the particle size, concentration (A280 nm) and presence of aggregates (A410 nm) between the two nucleation cycles when the lyophilized cakes were reconstituted. These were confirmed by SEC and protein A-HPLC analyses which showed similar peak shapes and retention times between the two cycles. However, uncontrolled nucleation resulted in cakes with larger specific surface area (0.90 m(2)/g) than controlled nucleation (0.46 m(2)/g). SEM images of the lyophilized cakes from uncontrolled nucleation revealed a sponge-like morphology with smaller pores while cakes from controlled nucleation cycle revealed plate-like structures with more open and larger pores. While controlled nucleation resulted in a final product with a higher residual moisture content (2.1±0.08%) than uncontrolled nucleation (1.62±0.11%), this was resolved by increasing the secondary drying temperature.

Bioreactor Process Parameter Screening Utilizing a Plackett–Burman Design for a Model Monoclonal Antibody

Consistent high-quality antibody yield is a key goal for cell culture bioprocessing. This endpoint is typically achieved in commercial settings through product and process engineering of bioreactor parameters during development. When the process is complex and not optimized, small changes in composition and control may yield a finished product of less desirable quality. Therefore, changes proposed to currently validated processes usually require justification and are reported to the US FDA for approval. Recently, design-of-experiments-based approaches have been explored to rapidly and efficiently achieve this goal of optimized yield with a better understanding of product and process variables that affect a products critical quality attributes. Here, we present a laboratory-scale model culture where we apply a Plackett-Burman screening design to parallel cultures to study the main effects of 11 process variables. This exercise allowed us to determine the relative importance of these variables and identify the most important factors to be further optimized in order to control both desirable and undesirable glycan profiles. We found engineering changes relating to culture temperature and nonessential amino acid supplementation significantly impacted glycan profiles associated with fucosylation, β-galactosylation, and sialylation. All of these are important for monoclonal antibody product quality.

Improved Stability of a Model IgG3 by DoE-Based Evaluation of Buffer Formulations

Formulating appropriate storage conditions for biopharmaceutical proteins is essential for ensuring their stability and thereby their purity, potency, and safety over their shelf-life. Using a model murine IgG3 produced in a bioreactor system, multiple formulation compositions were systematically explored in a DoE design to optimize the stability of a challenging antibody formulation worst case. The stability of the antibody in each buffer formulation was assessed by UV/VIS absorbance at 280 nm and 410 nm and size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SEC) to determine overall solubility, opalescence, and aggregate formation, respectively. Upon preliminary testing, acetate was eliminated as a potential storage buffer due to significant visible precipitate formation. An additional 24 full factorial DoE was performed that combined the stabilizing effect of arginine with the buffering capacity of histidine. From this final DoE, an optimized formulation of 200 mM arginine, 50 mM histidine, and 100 mM NaCl at a pH of 6.5 was identified to substantially improve stability under long-term storage conditions and after multiple freeze/thaw cycles. Thus, our data highlights the power of DoE based formulation screening approaches even for challenging monoclonal antibody molecules.

Automated 2D-HPLC method for characterization of protein aggregation with in-line fraction collection device

Monoclonal antibodies are mainly produced by mammalian cell culture, which due to its complexity, results in a wide range of product variants/isoforms. With the growing implementation of Quality by Design (QbD) and Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in drug manufacturing, monitoring and controlling quality attributes within a predefined range during manufacturing may provide added consistency to product quality. To implement these concepts, more robust analytical tools could reduce the time needed for monitoring quality attributes during upstream processing. The formation of protein aggregates is one such quality attribute that can lead to safety and efficacy issues in the final drug product. Described in this study is a fully automated two-dimensional high performance liquid chromatography (2D-HPLC) method for characterizing protein aggregation of crude in-process bioreactor samples. It combines protein A purification and separation by size exclusion into a single analytical module that has the potential to be employed at-line within a bioprocessing system. This method utilizes a novel in-line fraction collection device allowing for the collection of up to twelve fractions from a single sample or peak which facilitates the subsequent linked analysis of multiple protein peaks of interest in one chromatography module.

Viral clearance by flow-through mode ion exchange columns and membrane adsorbers

Anion exchange (AEX) is a common downstream purification operation for biotechnology products manufactured in cell culture such as therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and Fc‐fusion proteins. We present a head‐to‐head comparison of the viral clearance efficiency of AEX adsorbers and column chromatography using the same process fluids and comparable run conditions. We also present overall trends from the CDER viral clearance database. In our comparison of multiple brands of resins and adsorbers, clearance of three model viruses (PPV, X‐MuLV, and PR772) was largely comparable, with some exceptions which may reflect run conditions that had not been optimized on a resin/membrane specific basis.

Exploring the linkage between cell culture process parameters and downstream processing utilizing a plackett-burman design for a model monoclonal antibody.

Linkage of upstream cell culture with downstream processing and purification is an aspect of Quality by Design crucial for efficient and consistent production of high quality biopharmaceutical proteins. In a previous Plackett‐Burman screening study of parallel bioreactor cultures we evaluated main effects of 11 process variables, such as agitation, sparge rate, feeding regimens, dissolved oxygen set point, inoculation density, supplement addition, temperature, and pH shifts. In this follow‐up study, we observed linkages between cell culture process parameters and downstream capture chromatography performance and subsequent antibody attributes. In depth analysis of the capture chromatography purification of harvested cell culture fluid yielded significant effects of upstream process parameters on host cell protein abundance and behavior. A variety of methods were used to characterize the antibody both after purification and buffer formulation. This analysis provided insight in to the significant impacts of upstream process parameters on aggregate formation, impurities, and protein structure. This report highlights the utility of linkage studies in identifying how changes in upstream parameters can impact downstream critical quality attributes.

Sequence determinants for DNA packaging specificity in the S. aureus pathogenicity island SaPI1

The SaPIs and their relatives are a family of genomic islands that exploit helper phages for high frequency horizontal transfer. One of the mechanisms used by SaPIs to accomplish this molecular piracy is the redirection of the helper phage DNA packaging machinery. SaPIs encode a small terminase subunit that can be substituted for that of the phage. In this study we have determined the initial packaging cleavage sites for helper phage 80α, which uses the phage-encoded small terminase subunit, and for SaPI1, which uses the SaPI-encoded small terminase subunit. We have identified a 19nt SaPI1 sequence that is necessary and sufficient to allow high frequency 80α transduction of a plasmid by a terminase carrying the SaPI1-encoded small subunit. We also show that the hybrid enzyme with the SaPI1 small terminase subunit is capable of generalized transduction.