Automated high throughput microscale antibody purification workflows for accelerating antibody discovery.

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Biochemistry
• Immunology

Background:

• Developing "best-in-class" antibody therapeutics requires high throughput (HTP) processes for rapid antibody characterization.
• Access to sufficient quantities of high-quality antibodies is critical for accurate functional and molecular property assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate automated HTP workflows for antibody purification.
• To enable efficient recovery of antibodies from microscale cultures for drug discovery applications.

Main Methods:

• Automated liquid handling systems were employed for affinity-based antibody purification in batch and tip column modes.
• MabSelect SuRe resin was optimized for human IgG1 purification, and GammaBind Plus resin was established for challenging rat IgG2a purification.
• Purification processes were validated using microscale (1 mL) mammalian transient or hybridoma cultures.

Main Results:

• The HTP process demonstrated the capability to purify over 2000 antibodies per day.
• Human IgG1 purification achieved approximately 70% recovery across a wide range of antibody loads (up to 500 µg).
• Automated purification yielded antibodies of quality comparable to conventional methods.

Conclusions:

• Automated HTP antibody purification workflows provide a scalable solution for drug discovery.
• These processes facilitate the rapid assessment of antibody candidates, accelerating the identification of "best-in-class" therapeutics.
• The developed methods ensure efficient recovery of high-quality antibodies from various culture systems.