Ion-exchange and affinity chromatography costs in alpha-galactosidase purification

The purification of alpha-galactosidase from soybean seeds is a five to six-step procedure consisting of cryoprecipitation, acid precipitation and ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by two or three chromatography steps. The procedures, while not optimized, were carried out in a manner that resulted in 414-515-fold purification, as reported previously. The costs of two purification sequences were compared. In the best case, the preparative-scale costs of stationary phase, reagents, and hardware were $790 per million enzyme units, excluding labor. Stationary phase costs predominated over extraction, chromatography reagent, and eluent costs when the stationary phase is replaced after 10-40 cycles of use. However, if stationary phase life exceeds 50-200 cycles, stationary phase costs become similar in magnitude to eluent and reagent costs. Labor costs, which are process-specific and difficult to estimate, exceed all other costs by a factor of 10-50 at a small scale of operation and constitute a major cost, regardless of scale. This case study provides equations and a frame-work for carrying out a first comparison of costs for multistep purification sequences. Column life, throughput, and scale of operation were found to determine not only the magnitude, but also the relative contributions, of the different components that make up purification costs. This analysis shows that there are major opportunities for reducing purification costs through the development of less expensive stationary phases and the implementation of intelligent process control and automation for process scale chromatography.