Development of Centrifugal Partition Chromatography for the Purification of Antibody-Drug Conjugates

Anal Chem. 2023 Feb 7;95(5):2783-2788. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c03919. Epub 2023 Jan 26.

Abstract

Monoclonal antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are an expanding therapeutic class of biomolecules for which relatively few analytical and preparative separation options exist. Purification of ADCs with a specific drug antibody ratio is even more challenging. We report the first application of countercurrent separation (CCS) to this problem. An ADC mimic was successfully chromatographed using an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) consisting of PEG 1000/sodium citrate pH 7.5/water, 17.75/17.75/64.50 (w/w/w). Notably, different partition coefficients (K) in this ATPS for the ADC mimic (0.09 < K < 0.16) and its monoclonal antibody backbone, IgG (0.16 < K < 0.27), were observed using CCS. Differential elution behavior of such high-molecular-weight biomolecules, 146,441 vs. ∼150,000 Da, using CCS has no precedent. The results provide a proof of concept for further exploration of the application of ATPSs and CCS to the separation of ADCs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Immunoconjugates*
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Immunoconjugates
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Water
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal