A modified shrinking core model (MSCM) has been used to describe the mechanism for the degradation of Protein A resin particles taking place under continuous chromatographic operation. The model is based on the hypothetical shrinkage of the boundary layer of the resin particles, which house the active Protein A ligands within their pores. The caustic during the sanitization phase of chromatography has been determined to cause the Protein A ligand degradation. Protein A resins provided by manufacturers possess unique caustic stability, which has been used in MSCM to appraise the ligand degradation. The kinetic model utilized semiempirical parameters including diffusion constant, rate constant, stoichiometric factor, and reaction order. The parameters were estimated from column breakthrough experiments to simulate continuous Protein A chromatography for three distinct resins. The reaction order has been identified as the key parameter for predicting the degradation kinetics. The recorded reaction orders vary for three different resins with the resin B showing the highest reaction order of 4 and lowest being 1.65 for the resin C. The model can predict the effects of caustic on resin performance and displayed that minimal degradation of the resins A and B occurred, when exposed to 0.1 N and 0.2N NaOH, retaining up to 96% binding capacity after 240 cycles. The adsorption study conducted for the resin B demonstrated the dynamic physical and chemical changes transpiring through the life cycle of the resin, further supported the degradation model. The performance data demonstrate that the resin B exhibits the desirable performance, with higher reaction order indicating slower resin degradation, higher binding capacities, and increased sustenance of this binding capacity for extended duration. The degradation model can be extended to build effective cleaning strategies for continuous downstream processing.
Keywords: Continuous processing; Protein A affinity column; degradation kinetic model; mAbs and Protein A degradation.