Author Archives: Steven M. Chamow

eBook: Buffers — Navigating New Demands on Downstream Raw Materials

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Bioreactor titers for monoclonal antibody (MAb) processes have increased significantly since the dawn of the biopharmaceutical industry, yet such gains have instigated bottlenecks for critical high-volume raw materials used in downstream processing, such as buffer solutions. As downstream purification is required for most, if not all, biopharmaceutical products, buffers and their preparation are topics that concern nearly every drug company. But those topics rarely receive direct attention. This BPI eBook explores what factors prompted the current buffer bottleneck and what…

March 31, 2021

Capture of CH1-Containing Bispecific Antibodies: Evaluating an Alternative to Protein A

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Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are designed to recognize and bind two different antigens, in many cases for the purpose of immune effector-cell activation to destroy cancer cells (1). Such BsAbs mediate cell killing by binding simultaneously to an antigen that is overexpressed on tumor cells and to the CD3 receptor, activating cytotoxic T lymphocytes (2). Using proprietary UniRat human heavy-chain technology combined with OmniFlic human fixed–light-chain antibody technology licensed from Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Teneobio has produced several bispecific antibodies, each targeting a…

May 24, 2020

Therapeutic IgG-Like Bispecific Antibodies: Modular Versatility and Manufacturing Challenges, Part 2

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Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are bivalent and monospecific, with two antigen-binding arms that both recognize the same epitope. Bispecific and multispecific antibodies, collectively referred to herein as bispecific antibodies (bsAbs), can have two or more antigen-binding sites, which are capable of recognizing and binding two or more unique epitopes. Based on their structure, bsAbs can be divided into two broad subgroups: IgG-like bsAbs and non–IgG-like bsAbs. We have chosen to focus on the former in this review. Part one provides a…

February 16, 2018

Therapeutic IgG-Like Bispecific Antibodies: Modular Versatility and Manufacturing Challenges, Part 1

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Antibody-based immunotherapy has advanced significantly since 1986, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first mouse monoclonal antibody (MAb) for clinical use: Orthoclone OKT-3 (muromonab-CD3). In the intervening years, researchers have applied the tools of genetic engineering to clone immunoglobulin G (IgG) genes into a number of expression vectors. In the 1990s, the bioprocess industry was able to produce fully human antibodies in cultured cells. As of June 2017, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA)…

December 13, 2017

Buffers in Biologics Manufacturing

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Biotechnology has enabled commercialization of protein-based drugs including insulin, growth factors, blood factors, and antibodies. Production and purification of such biologic products require different buffers for pH control and stabilization of reactions in different steps during biomanufacture. These processes include cell culture production (the “upstream†phase), purification (the “downstream†phase), and a final phase in which excipients are introduced to the drug substance to create a drug product (“formulation and storageâ€). In upstream processes, buffers are primarily used for their…

February 13, 2017

Immunoglobulin Fc-Fusion Proteins Part 2: Therapeutic Uses and Clinical Development

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The potential therapeutic value of many proteins — including enzymes, receptors, cytokines, blood factors and peptides — can be realized by fusing them to the Fc region of human immunoglobulin G. Of the 46 monoclonal antibody (MAb) and MAb-derivative products approved by the FDA to date as human therapeutics, 10 are Fc-fusion proteins (Table 2). Among approved products, several structural variations are represented (Figure 4). In BPI’s October 2014 issue, Part 1 of this review examined the structure and manufacturing…

November 10, 2014

Immunoglobulin Fc-Fusion Proteins Part 1: Their Design and Manufacture

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Over the past three decades, 45 monoclonal antibody (MAbs) and MAb-derivative products have been approved for therapeutic use in the United States (Table 1). One class of antibody derivatives is growing in importance: Fc-fusion proteins. Many biologically active proteins, including receptor ECDs (see “Abbreviations†box), cytokines, enzymes, and bioactive peptides have very short serum half lives because rapid renal clearance limits their exposure in target tissue (and, consequently, their pharmacological effect). The primary reason for fusing a biologically active protein…

October 16, 2014