The effect of new compounds in stabilizing downstream monoclonal antibody (mAb) process intermediates

Determining the stability of downstream process (DSP) intermediates is an extremely important parameter used to maintain product quality attributes within their acceptance ranges. The IgG4 monoclonal antibody studied (mAb1) showed aggregation under acidic conditions, inhibiting the use of low pH treatment to inactivate endogenous retroviruses, and poor virus filtration performance. Both manufacturing steps are included in mAb DSP for viral clearance. The impact of several new compounds on the aggregation and stabilization of mAb1 in process intermediate pools encountered during these critical DSP steps was investigated. Results showed that, in the presence of a protein stabilizer at pH 3.2, 27% less aggregation was observed compared to controls, during the low pH treatment for viral inactivation. The impact of a novel protein stabilizer on virus filter throughput during mAb1 filtration was compared to L-arginine using an innovative high-throughput automation technique. Compared to control experiments without additives, conditions were found where a 70% increase in filter volumetric throughput was achieved in the presence of the novel stabilizer, and a 56% decrease in volumetric throughput observed with L-arginine. These findings present the possibility of using these novel compounds to stabilize proteins during DSP and permitting the use of platform DSP elements such as low pH treatment and high-throughput virus filtration to challenging and unstable proteins.