Most products in discovery by pharmaceutical companies today are biopharmaceuticals. Made by living organisms, these are typically large–molecular-weight products that rely on their secondary and tertiary structure for therapeutic effectiveness. Synthetic small molecules and biopharmaceuticals both require analytical verification for release, but only biopharmaceuticals require functional potency assays for investigational new drug (IND), biological license application (BLA), and new drug application (NDA) submissions. Those activities often require elaborate transfers of diverse, biological, product specific assays that carry greater chances of…
Assays
Automated Liquid Handlers As Sources of Error
Use of automated liquid handling equipment for rapid testing and reproducible screening of thousands of molecules, cells, and compounds has become an essential component of life-science laboratories across the globe. Along with an increase in such use, transferred volumes have shrunk, as demands increase on transfer accuracy and precision when aspirating, diluting, dispensing, mixing, and washing. Automated liquid handlers are generally used to increase the productivity and repeatability of volume transfer, but as discussed here, they are still prone to…
Development and Qualification of a Generic IgG Quantification Assay Using Surface Plasmon Resonance
Fast, precise, and accurate quantification technologies are indispensable for efficient process development in applications such as IgG production in a GXP environment. Based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology, the Biacore C system from GE Healthcare (www.biacore.com) is an alternative technology for IgG quantification that has benefits over traditional methods. Assay development is simplified and accelerated due to real-time detection. Assay hands-on time is reduced, and sample throughput can be increased using automation and efficient data evaluation with regulatory-compliant software.…
Assay Validation for Rapid Detection of Mycoplasma Contamination
Mycoplasmas and related bacteria in the class Mollicutes are parasitic organisms found not only on the external surfaces of a wide range of eukaryotic host cells, but also intracellularly. They are characterized by small size and lack of a rigid cell wall, which gives them resistance to β-lactam antibiotics and the ability to pass through 0.2-µm filters (1,2). Contamination by Mollicutes is a common problem for cell cultures that is not easily detected because it usually does not produce turbidity…
Automated Liquid Handlers As Sources of Error
Use of automated liquid handling equipment for rapid testing and reproducible screening of thousands of molecules, cells, and compounds has become an essential component of life-science laboratories across the globe. Along with an increase in such use, transferred volumes have shrunk, as demands increase on transfer accuracy and precision when aspirating, diluting, dispensing, mixing, and washing. Automated liquid handlers are generally used to increase the productivity and repeatability of volume transfer, but as discussed here, they are still…
Assessing Nonparallelism in Bioassays
The classic F-test for nonparallelism is widely used for bioassays with linear log dose-response lines to assess parallelism, or, more correctly, to examine the strength of evidence against a null hypothesis that the two lines are parallel. Alternative methods for assessing parallelism have been proposed, but their suitability for any particular case needs to be carefully considered. Here we examine some advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches. PRODUCT FOCUS: ALL BIOLOGICALSPROCESS FOCUS: QA/QCWHO SHOULD READ: QA/QC, ASSAY DEVELOPMENT, AND…
Current Status of Protein Quantification Technologies
With the help of rapid advancements in molecular biology and genetic engineering, a rising number of biotherapeutics are being developed and marketed. The quality and safety requirements for this class of active ingredients has steadily increased over the decades since Eli Lilly put forth the first insulin manufactured using genetically modified organisms in 1982. This has led to dynamic developments in protein analysis and proteomics intended to meet a growing demand for new technologies and sophisticated analytical techniques to characterize…
Development of an Antibody Screening Assay for Selection of Production Cell Lines
Biopharmaceuticals such as recombinant monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) account for a significant proportion of all new drugs (1,2,3). Although manufacturing site capacities have expanded and process efficiencies have improved greatly, there is still some concern the current biomanufacturing capacity worldwide might not meet increasing market demands (1, 2). PRODUCT FOCUS: RECOMBINANT PROTEINSPROCESS FOCUS: PRODUCTION PROCESS DEVELOPMENTWHO SHOULD READ: QA/QC, PROCESS DEVELOPMENT, AND ANALYTICAL PERSONNELKEYWORDS: CELL LINE DEVELOPMENT, SCREENING ASSAY, MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES, FC PROTEINS, CHO, IGG, HTRF, ANTIBODY TITER, CELL LINE PRODUCTIVITY,…
Bioassay Survey 2006–2007
Bioassays are required for a variety of purposes in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals including drug candidate selection, product releases, product stability assessment, and comparability to support proposed process changes. However, because of their complexity and susceptibility to many variables, bioassays often prove problematic and difficult to develop. Timely development of suitable assay systems represents a major investment on the part of the biopharmaceutical industry — but late development often results in even more costly clinical holds. PRODUCT FOCUS:…