Application of a High Throughput and Automated Workflow to Therapeutic Protein Formulation Development

Rapid and efficient formulation development is critical to successfully bringing therapeutic protein drug products into a competitive market under increasingly aggressive timelines. Conventional application of high throughput techniques for formulation development have been limited to lower protein concentrations, which are not applicable to late stage development of high concentration therapeutics. In this work, we present a high throughput (HT) formulation workflow that enables screening at representative concentrations via integration of a micro-buffer exchange system with automated analytical instruments. The operational recommendations associated with the use of such HT systems as well as the efficiencies gained (reduction in hands-on time and run time by over 70% and 30%, respectively), which enable practical characterization of an expanded formulation design space, are discussed. To demonstrate that the workflow is fit for purpose, the formulation properties and stability profiles (SEC and CEX) from samples generated by the HT workflow were compared to those processed by ultrafiltration/diafiltration, and the results were shown to be in good agreement. This approach was further applied to two case studies, one focused on a formulation screen that studied the effects of pH and excipient on viscosity and stability, and the other focused on selection of an appropriate viscosity mimic solution for a protein product.