Fabian Steinebach

Online control of the twin-column countercurrent solvent gradient process for biochromatography

A new control concept for the twin-column MCSGP process has been developed. The controller is based on two independent PID controllers each of which affects one side of the product collection window. Accordingly, the two controllers, although independent, can together shift the product collection along the elution chromatogram. The product stream collected during one entire process cycle is analyzed with an at-line HPLC allowing a direct feedback of the measured purity values to the controller. The two set points are given by the purity values with respect to weak and strong impurities in the product stream. The controller performance was tested with two systems: In the first one, a three component protein model mixture was considered. The controller stability and reliability was tested in conditions of both set point tracking and rejection of feed composition and pump flow rate disturbances. The complete experiment ran for 112h during which the desired purity values were always kept within the set points. A more realistic example was the purification of a monoclonal antibody supernatant from fragments and aggregates. In this case, the process reached specifications after five cycles, and kept them for 20h of operation in spite of ongoing disturbances in pump flow rates and feed composition. A new general start-up procedure was developed and tested in this particular purification process. The procedure starts from very simple initial conditions and let the controller to identify conditions, particularly for the recycle streams, which lead to yield and purity values significantly better than the corresponding values achieved in batch chromatography in specs.

Process performance and product quality in an integrated continuous antibody production process.

Continuous manufacturing is currently being seriously considered in the biopharmaceutical industry as the possible new paradigm for producing therapeutic proteins, due to production cost and product quality related benefits. In this study, a monoclonal antibody producing CHO cell line was cultured in perfusion mode and connected to a continuous affinity capture step. The reliable and stable integration of the two systems was enabled by suitable control loops, regulating the continuous volumetric flow and adapting the operating conditions of the capture process. For the latter, an at‐line HPLC measurement of the harvest concentration subsequent to the bioreactor was combined with a mechanistic model of the capture chromatographic unit. Thereby, optimal buffer consumption and productivity throughout the process was realized while always maintaining a yield above the target value of 99%. Stable operation was achieved at three consecutive viable cell density set points (20, 60, and 40 × 106 cells/mL), together with consistent product quality in terms of aggregates, fragments, charge isoforms, and N‐linked glycosylation. In addition, different values for these product quality attributes such as N‐linked glycosylation, charge variants, and aggregate content were measured at the different steady states. As expected, the amount of released DNA and HCP was significantly reduced by the capture step for all considered upstream operating conditions. This study is exemplary for the potential of enhancing product quality control and modulation by integrated continuous manufacturing. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 298–307.

Continuous counter‐current chromatography for capture and polishing steps in biopharmaceutical production

The economic advantages of continuous processing of biopharmaceuticals, which include smaller equipment and faster, efficient processes, have increased interest in this technology over the past decade. Continuous processes can also improve quality assurance and enable greater controllability, consistent with the quality initiatives of the FDA. Here, we discuss different continuous multi‐column chromatography processes. Differences in the capture and polishing steps result in two different types of continuous processes that employ counter‐current column movement. Continuous‐capture processes are associated with increased productivity per cycle and decreased buffer consumption, whereas the typical purity‐yield trade‐off of classical batch chromatography can be surmounted by continuous processes for polishing applications. In the context of continuous manufacturing, different but complementary chromatographic columns or devices are typically combined to improve overall process performance and avoid unnecessary product storage. In the following, these various processes, their performances compared with batch processing and resulting product quality are discussed based on a review of the literature. Based on various examples of applications, primarily monoclonal antibody production processes, conclusions are drawn about the future of these continuous‐manufacturing technologies.

Model based adaptive control of a continuous capture process for monoclonal antibodies production

A two-column capture process for continuous processing of cell-culture supernatant is presented. Similar to other multicolumn processes, this process uses sequential countercurrent loading of the target compound in order maximize resin utilization and productivity for a given product yield. The process was designed using a novel mechanistic model for affinity capture, which takes both specific adsorption as well as transport through the resin beads into account. Simulations as well as experimental results for the capture of an IgG antibody are discussed. The model was able to predict the process performance in terms of yield, productivity and capacity utilization. Compared to continuous capture with two columns operated batch wise in parallel, a 2.5-fold higher capacity utilization was obtained for the same productivity and yield. This results in an equal improvement in product concentration and reduction of buffer consumption. The developed model was used not only for the process design and optimization but also for its online control. In particular, the unit operating conditions are changed in order to maintain high product yield while optimizing the process performance in terms of capacity utilization and buffer consumption also in the presence of changing upstream conditions and resin aging.

Comparison of batch and continuous multi-column protein A capture processes by optimal design

Multi-column capture processes show several advantages compared to batch capture. It is however not evident how many columns one should use exactly. To investigate this issue, twin-column CaptureSMB, 3- and 4-column periodic counter-current chromatography (PCC) and single column batch capture are numerically optimized and compared in terms of process performance for capturing a monoclonal antibody using protein A chromatography. Optimization is carried out with respect to productivity and capacity utilization (amount of product loaded per cycle compared to the maximum amount possible), while keeping yield and purity constant. For a wide range of process parameters, all three multi-column processes show similar maximum capacity utilization and performed significantly better than batch. When maximizing productivity, the CaptureSMB process shows optimal performance, except at high feed titers, where batch chromatography can reach higher productivity values than the multi-column processes due to the complete decoupling of the loading and elution steps, albeit at a large cost in terms of capacity utilization. In terms of trade-off, i.e. how much the capacity utilization decreases with increasing productivity, CaptureSMB is optimal for low and high feed titers, whereas the 3-column process is optimal in an intermediate region. Using these findings, the most suitable process can be chosen for different production scenarios.

Design and operation of a continuous integrated monoclonal antibody production process

The realization of an end‐to‐end integrated continuous lab‐scale process for monoclonal antibody manufacturing is described. For this, a continuous cultivation with filter‐based cell‐retention, a continuous two column capture process, a virus inactivation step, a semi‐continuous polishing step (twin‐column MCSGP), and a batch‐wise flow‐through polishing step were integrated and operated together. In each unit, the implementation of internal recycle loops allows to improve the performance: (a) in the bioreactor, to simultaneously increase the cell density and volumetric productivity, (b) in the capture process, to achieve improved capacity utilization at high productivity and yield, and (c) in the MCSGP process, to overcome the purity‐yield trade‐off of classical batch‐wise bind‐elute polishing steps. Furthermore, the design principles, which allow the direct connection of these steps, some at steady state and some at cyclic steady state, as well as straight‐through processing, are discussed. The setup was operated for the continuous production of a commercial monoclonal antibody, resulting in stable operation and uniform product quality over the 17 cycles of the end‐to‐end integration. The steady‐state operation was fully characterized by analyzing at the outlet of each unit at steady state the product titer as well as the process (HCP, DNA, leached Protein A) and product (aggregates, fragments) related impurities.

Linear isotherm determination from linear gradient elution experiments

A procedure to estimate equilibrium adsorption parameters as a function of the modifier concentration in linear gradient elution chromatography is proposed and its reliability is investigated by comparison with experimental data. Over the past decades, analytical solutions of the so-called equilibrium model under linear gradient elution conditions were derived assuming that proteins and modifier molecules access the same fraction of the pore size distribution of the porous particles. The present approach developed in this work accounts for the size exclusion effect resulting in different exclusions for proteins and modifier. A new analytical solution was derived by applying perturbation theory for differential equations, and the 1st-order approximated solution is presented in this work. Eventually, a turnkey and reliable procedure to efficiently estimate isotherm parameters as a function of modifier concentration from linear gradient elution experiments is proposed.

Continuous integrated manufacturing of therapeutic proteins

With the growth of our understanding of biopharmaceutical processes, a transition from classical batch to continuous integrated manufacturing of therapeutic proteins is taking place across laboratory, clinical and commercial scales. Encouraged by regulatory authorities, this transition is favoured by new emerging technologies as well as by the development of better simulation models. The current status of continuous cell culture and downstream processes and requirements for their successful integration are discussed in this article, with specific reference to product quality attributes.

Microarray-based MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry enables monitoring of monoclonal antibody production in batch and perfusion cell cultures.

Cell culture process monitoring in monoclonal antibody (mAb) production is essential for efficient process development and process optimization. Currently employed online, at line and offline methods for monitoring productivity as well as process reproducibility have their individual strengths and limitations. Here, we describe a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS)-based on a microarray for mass spectrometry (MAMS) technology to rapidly monitor a broad panel of analytes, including metabolites and proteins directly from the unpurified cell supernatant or from host cell culture lysates. The antibody titer is determined from the intact antibody mass spectra signal intensity relative to an internal protein standard spiked into the supernatant. The method allows a semi-quantitative determination of light and heavy chains. Intracellular mass profiles for metabolites and proteins can be used to track cellular growth and cell productivity.

Experimental design of a twin-column countercurrent gradient purification process

As typical for separation processes, single unit batch chromatography exhibits a trade-off between purity and yield. The twin-column MCSGP (multi-column countercurrent solvent gradient purification) process allows alleviating such trade-offs, particularly in the case of difficult separations. In this work an efficient and reliable procedure for the design of the twin-column MCSGP process is developed. This is based on a single batch chromatogram, which is selected as the design chromatogram. The derived MCSGP operation is not intended to provide optimal performance, but it provides the target product in the selected fraction of the batch chromatogram, but with higher yield. The design procedure is illustrated for the isolation of the main charge isoform of a monoclonal antibody from Protein A eluate with ion-exchange chromatography. The main charge isoform was obtained at a purity and yield larger than 90%. At the same time process related impurities such as HCP and leached Protein A as well as aggregates were at least equally well removed. Additionally, the impact of several design parameters on the process performance in terms of purity, yield, productivity and buffer consumption is discussed. The obtained results can be used for further fine-tuning of the process parameters so as to improve its performance.