Bispecific antibody characterization by a combination of intact and site-specific/chain-specific LC/MS techniques

Bastiaan L Duivelshof; Alain Beck; Davy Guillarme; Valentina D'Atri

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122836

Bispecific antibody characterization by a combination of intact and site-specific/chain-specific LC/MS techniques

Talanta. 2022 Jan 1:236:122836. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122836. Epub 2021 Sep 3.

Authors

Bastiaan L Duivelshof¹, Alain Beck², Davy Guillarme¹, Valentina D'Atri³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland (ISPSO), University of Geneva, CMU-Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU-Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland.
² IRPF - Centre d'Immunologie Pierre-Fabre (CIPF), 5 Avenue Napoléon III, BP 60497, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France.
³ Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland (ISPSO), University of Geneva, CMU-Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU-Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland. Electronic address: valentina.datri@unige.ch.

PMID: 34635226
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122836

Abstract

Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) are considered as an important class of biopharmaceutical drugs, with about 160 products in clinical trials. From an analytical point of view, the correct chain-association is one of the most critical challenge to monitor during bsAbs development and production. In the present study, a full analytical workflow has been developed based on the use of various chromatographic modes: size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ion exchange chromatography (IEX), reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), and hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC), all combined with high resolution mass spectrometry (MS). This analytical strategy was applied to Hemlibra® (emicizumab), which is certainly the most successful commercial bsAb to date. Using this strategy, it was possible to monitor the presence of mispaired bsAb species and detect and identify additional post-translational modifications (PTMs).

Keywords: Bispecific antibody; Emicizumab; HILIC-MS; Hemlibra; IEX-MS; RPLC-MS; SEC-MS.

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Bispecific*
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Chromatography, Gel
Chromatography, Reverse-Phase
Mass Spectrometry

Substances

Antibodies, Bispecific
Antibodies, Monoclonal