Quantitation of residual mouse DNA in monoclonal antibody based products

The identification and characterization of cell substrates and testing of bulk and final products is an important issue which must be addressed by manufacturers. In view of the fact that hundreds of applications for Investigational New Drugs (IND) have been submitted over the past few years, there is an obvious need for testing of these products. Detection of DNA by molecular hybridization has been used for various applications including the quantitation and characterization of DNA in biological products. We have developed a precise assay based on hybridization for the detection and quantitation of residual genomic DNA. In order to reduce protein interference, a specific pretreatment method for isolation of DNA in monoclonal antibody based products was implemented. We have used the assay to evaluate levels of contaminating DNA in prepared lots of monoclonal antibodies. Validation experiments demonstrated a sensitivity below 10 pg DNA using nick-translated 32P-labelled genomic DNA probes. The assay allows accurate quantitation of residual DNA in biologics.