Affinity-based methodologies and ligands for antibody purification: advances and perspectives

Many successful, recent therapies for life-threatening diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis are based on the recognition between native or genetically engineered antibodies and cell-surface receptors. Although naturally produced by the immune system, the need for antibodies with unique specificities and designed for single application, has encouraged the search for novel antibody purification strategies. The availability of these products to the end-consumer is strictly related to manufacture costs, particularly those attributed to downstream processing. Over the last decades, academia and industry have developed different types of interactions and separation techniques for antibody purification, affinity-based strategies being the most common and efficient methodologies. The affinity ligands utilized range from biological to synthetic designed molecules with enhanced resistance and stability. Despite the successes achieved, the purification "paradigm" still moves interests and efforts in the continuous demand for improved separation performances. This review will focus on recent advances and perspectives in antibody purification by affinity interactions using different techniques, with particular emphasis on affinity chromatography.