Guido Ströhlein

Chromatographic separation of three monoclonal antibody variants using multicolumn countercurrent solvent gradient purification (MCSGP)

Multicolumn countercurrent solvent gradient purification (MCSGP) is a continuous chromatographic process developed in recent years (Aumann and Morbidelli, 2007a ; Aumann et al., 2007 ) that is particularly suited for applications in the field of bioseparations. Like batch chromatography, MCSGP is suitable for three‐fraction chromatographic separations and able to perform solvent gradients but it is superior in terms of solvent consumption, yield, purity, and productivity due to the countercurrent movement of the liquid and the solid phases. In this work, the MCSGP process is applied to the separation of three monoclonal antibody variants on a conventional preparative cation exchange resin. The experimental process performance was compared to simulations based on a lumped kinetic model. Yield and purity values of the target variant of 93%, respectively were obtained experimentally. The batch reference process was clearly outperformed by the MCSGP process. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;100: 1166–1177.

Increasing the activity of monoclonal antibody therapeutics by continuous chromatography (MCSGP)

The charged monoclonal antibody (mAb) variants of the commercially available therapeutics Avastin®, Herceptin® and Erbitux® were separated by ion‐exchange gradient chromatography in batch and continuous countercurrent mode (MCSGP process). Different stationary phases, buffer conditions and two MCSGP configurations were used in order to demonstrate the broad applicability of MCSGP in the field of charged protein variant separation. Batch chromatography and MCSGP were compared with respect to yield, purity, and productivity. In the case of Herceptin®, also the biological activity of the product stream was taken into account as performance indicator. The robustness of the MCSGP process against feed composition variations was confirmed experimentally and by model simulations. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107:652–662.

Two step capture and purification of IgG2 using multicolumn countercurrent solvent gradient purification (MCSGP)

A two‐step chromatography process for monoclonal antibody (mAb) purification from clarified cell culture supernatant (cCCS) was developed using cation exchange Multicolumn Countercurrent Solvent Gradient Purification (MCSGP) as a capture step. After an initial characterization of the cell culture supernatant the capture step was designed from a batch gradient elution chromatogram. A variety of chromatographic materials was screened for polishing of the MCSGP‐captured material in batch mode. Using multi‐modal anion exchange in bind‐elute mode, mAb was produced consistently within the purity specification. The benchmark was a state‐of‐the‐art 3‐step chromatographic process based on protein A, anion and cation exchange stationary phases. The performance of the developed 2‐step process was compared to this process in terms of purity, yield, productivity and buffer consumption. Finally, the potential of the MCSGP process was investigated by comparing its performance to that of a classical batch process that used the same stationary phase. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107: 974–984.

Model simulation and experimental verification of a cation-exchange IgG capture step in batch and continuous chromatography

The cation-exchange capture step of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) purification process using single column batch and multicolumn continuous chromatography (MCSGP) was modeled with a lumped kinetic model. Model parameters were experimentally determined under analytical and preparative conditions: porosities, retention factors and mass transfer parameters of purified mAb were obtained through a systematic procedure based on retention time measurements. The saturation capacity was determined through peak fitting assuming a Langmuir-type adsorption isotherm. The model was validated using linear batch gradient elutions. In addition, the model was used to simulate the start-up, cyclic steady state and shut down behavior of the continuous capture process (MCSGP) and to predict performance parameters. The obtained results were validated by comparison with suitable experiments using an industrial cell culture supernatant. Although the model was not capable of delivering quantitative information of the product purity, it proved high accuracy in the prediction of product concentrations and yield with an error of less than 6%, making it a very useful tool in process development.

Hybrid processes: Design method for optimal coupling of chromatography and crystallization units

A general design method for the hybrid process of a chromatographic and a crystallization unit was developed. The fundamentals for the separate design of chromatographic and crystallization separation processes, as well as modeling approaches for these units, are presented. Four different test systems were chosen to show the applicability of the developed method. A focus was set on the enantioseparation of racemic compounds occurring in the pharmaceutical industry. The development of the flowsheet for the hybrid process shows that a chromatographic unit with a subsequent crystallization and recycle of the crystallizers mother liquor to the feed of the chromatographic unit is most suitable. The possibilities of racemization and a solvent change are discussed. The influence of important operation parameters are investigated. The results for the test systems show that a hybrid process, in which both units serve as a separation process, is only suitable if the productivity of the chromatographic unit decreases sharply with increasing demands concerning the outlet purity and if the eutectic point of the racemic compound is close to 0.5.

Simulation model for overloaded monoclonal antibody variants separations in ion-exchange chromatography

A model was developed for the design of a monoclonal antibody charge variants separation process based on ion-exchange chromatography. In order to account for a broad range of operating conditions in the simulations, an explicit pH and salt concentration dependence has been included in the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The reliability of this model was tested using experimental chromatographic retention times as well as information about the structural characteristics of the different charge variants, e.g. C-terminal lysine groups and deamidated groups. Next, overloaded isocratic elutions at various pH and salt concentrations have been performed to determine the saturation capacity of the ion-exchanger. Furthermore, the column simulation model was applied for the prediction of monoclonal antibody variants separations with both pH and salt gradient elutions. A good prediction of the elution times and peak shapes was observed, even though none of the model parameters was adjusted to fit the experimental data. The trends in the separation performance obtained through the simulations were generally sufficient to identify the most promising operating conditions. The predictive column simulation model thus developed in this work, including a set of parameters determined through specific independent experiments, was experimentally validated and offers a useful basis for a rational optimization of monoclonal antibody variants separation processes on ion-exchange chromatography.

Electrostatic model for protein adsorption in ion-exchange chromatography and application to monoclonal antibodies, lysozyme and chymotrypsinogen A

A model for the adsorption equilibrium of proteins in ion-exchange chromatography explicitly accounting for the effect of pH and salt concentration in the limit of highly diluted systems was developed. It is based on the use of DLVO theory to estimate the electrostatic interactions between the charged surface of the ion-exchanger and the proteins. The corresponding charge distributions were evaluated as a function of pH and salt concentration using a molecular approach. The model was verified for the adsorption equilibrium of lysozyme, chymotrypsinogen A and four industrial monoclonal antibodies on two strong cation-exchangers. The adsorption equilibrium constants of these proteins were determined experimentally at various pH values and salt concentrations and the model was fitted with a good agreement using three adjustable parameters for each protein in the whole range of experimental conditions. Despite the simplifications of the model regarding the geometry of the protein-ion-exchanger system, the physical meaning of the parameters was retained.

Closed loop control of the multi-column solvent gradient purification process

A PID controller able to support the operator in the operation of the Multi-column Countercurrent Solvent Gradient Purification (MCSGP) process which is a continuous, countercurrent chromatographic process has been developed. As measurement, only the online UV signals at each column outlet are used. This guarantees a simple and cheap control implementation and a fast control action. Accordingly, the controller does not guarantee any purity or yield value, but simply that the withdrawn window of the product is centered in a specific region of the UV chromatogram where the purity specifications are expected to be satisfied. This can be determined by the operator based on the batch chromatogram selected for designing the MCSGP operating conditions. Thus the controller provides a reliable and efficient tool for the operator to run properly a MCSGP unit in combination with suitable offline analytics for the quantification of purity and yield. The applications are discussed involving the purification of a model protein and a peptide. It is shown that the developed controller is effective in driving the unit to steady state during start up and in keeping a stable steady state while rejecting external disturbances.

Peptide pore accessibility in reversed-phase chromatography

The effect of salt or peptide concentration on peptide porosity (i.e. the porosity accessible to a given peptide) is investigated on six different reversed-phase stationary phases. The peptide porosity is found to increase with the local concentration of negative charges following a saturation-type function within the same porosity boundaries for both cases. This can induce the formation of anti-Langmuirian peaks in non-adsorbing conditions since the local increase of the ionic strength due to the peptide concentration increases the porosity accessible to the peptide. This behavior can be well reproduced by the ideal model of chromatography assuming non-constant porosity. The acetonitrile adsorption isotherm was also measured on all the considered reversed-phase stationary phases. A comparison between the stationary phases shows a correlation between the amount of acetonitrile accumulated in the pores and the reduced pore accessibility for the peptide.

Role of recycling in improving the performance of chromatographic solvent gradient purifications.

With significant advancement in the upstream processing technology, downstream processing of large bio-molecules is becoming the bottle-neck in the production chain. To face this challenge, design and development of efficient separation processes has become crucial. As a step towards boosting the performance of a chromatographic separation process through improved design, we investigated the potential of recycling as a process option. The most important advantage of recycling is that it can be implemented in an existing batch system without any major investment and consultation. Although impure products are recycled in industries, it is done as additional batch, and only then, when the recoverable product is valuable enough to surpass the loss of productivity in running the additional batches. In our study, on the other hand, it was found that a well-designed recycle can not only improve the yield, but also the productivity of a multi-component purification. A series of multiobjective optimization studies were carried out on multi-component separation to comprehend the role of recycling with reference to an industrially relevant problem, i.e. the chromatographic purification step of the production process of calcitonin.