Author Archives: Marian McKee

Building a Robust Biological Assay for Potency Measurement

Potency is a critical quality attribute of a biological product and is often determined by a biological assay (also called bioassay or biopotency assay). Specifically, potency is the biological activity or capacity of a product directly linked to its clinical efficacy. Potency tests are performed as part of product release, comparability studies, and stability testing. Nonbiological methods — which measure a product’s molecular or biochemical characteristics (e.g., ligand-binding assay) — have gained interest as replacements for often troublesome bioassays. Even…

Biosafety Testing of Biologicals for Mycoplasma Contamination

          Mycoplasma contamination of cell culture (both of primary and continuous eukaryotic cell lines) is common and represents a significant issue of importance in the basic research, development, and production of biologicals. Contamination can alter virtually every physical and chemical property of cells (depending on the contaminating species and the cell type), potentially leading to unreliable results and perhaps unsafe biologicals, biopharmaceutical drugs, or viral vaccines. In fact, contamination may be present with no obvious change…