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Evans BR, Beck AG, Yeung L, Li A, Lee DH, Bateman KP, Chopra G. Automated Bioanalytical Workflow for Ligand Binding-Based Pharmacokinetic Assay Development. Anal Chem 2024; 96:488-495. [PMID: 38156369 PMCID: PMC12083557 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
The growth of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) continues to accelerate due to their success as treatments for many diseases. As new therapeutics are developed, it is increasingly important to have robust bioanalytical methods to measure the pharmacokinetics (PK) of circulating therapeutic mAbs in serum. Ligand-binding assays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) with anti-idiotypic antibodies (anti-IDs) targeting the variable regions of the therapeutic antibody are sensitive and specific bioanalytical methods to measure levels of therapeutic antibodies in a biological matrix. However, soluble circulating drug mAb targets can interfere with the anti-IDs binding to the therapeutic mAb, thereby resulting in an underestimation of total drug concentration. Therefore, in addition to a high binding affinity for the mAb, the selection of anti-IDs and the assay format that are not impacted by soluble antigens and have low matrix interference is essential for developing a robust PK assay. Standardized automated approaches to screen and select optimal reagents and assay formats are critical to increase efficiency, quality, and PK assay robustness. However, there does not exist an integrated screening and analysis platform to develop robust PK assays across multiple formats. We have developed an automated workflow and scoring platform with multiple bioanalytical assay parameters that allow for ranking of candidate anti-IDs. A primary automated indirect electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was utilized to shortlist the anti-IDs that were selected for labeling and screening in pairs. A secondary screen using an ECL sandwich assay with labeled-anti-ID pairings was used to test multiple PK assay formats to identify the best anti-ID pairing/PK assay format. We developed an automated assay using fixed plate maps combined with a human-guided graphical user interface-based scoring system and compared it to a data-dependent scoring system using Gaussian mixture models for automated scoring and selection. Our approach allowed for screening of anti-IDs and identification of the most robust PK assay format with significantly reduced time and resources compared with traditional approaches. We believe that such standardized, automated, and integrated platforms that accelerate the development of PK assays will become increasingly important for supporting future human clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brad R. Evans
- Department of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Armen G. Beck
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - Lai Yeung
- Department of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Annie Li
- Department of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Dong Hun Lee
- Department of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Kevin P. Bateman
- Department of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Gaurav Chopra
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Department of Computer Science (by courtesy), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Purdue Institutes for Drug Discovery, Integrative Neuroscience, Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
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Lyons-Abbott S, Abramov A, Chan CL, Deer JR, Fu G, Hassouneh W, Koch T, Misquith A, O'Neill J, Simon SA, Wolf A, Yeh R, Vernet E. Choice of fusion proteins, expression host, and analytics solves difficult-to-produce protein challenges in discovery research. Biotechnol J 2024; 19:e2300162. [PMID: 37802118 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202300162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
Abstract
High quality biological reagents are a prerequisite for pharmacological research. Herein a protein production screening approach, including quality assessment methods, for protein-based discovery research is presented. Trends from 2895 expression constructs representing 253 proteins screened in mammalian and bacterial hosts-91% of which are successfully expressed and purified-are discussed. Mammalian expression combined with the use of solubility-promoting fusion proteins is deemed suitable for most targets. Furthermore, cases utilizing stable cell line generation and choice of fusion protein for higher yield and quality of difficult-to-produce proteins (Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 4 (LGR4) and Neurturin) are presented and discussed. In the case of Neurturin, choice of fusion protein impacted the target binding 80-fold. These results highlight the need for exploration of construct designs and careful Quality Control (QC) of difficult-to-produce protein reagents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ariel Abramov
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Chung-Leung Chan
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Jen Running Deer
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Guangsen Fu
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Wafa Hassouneh
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Tyree Koch
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Ayesha Misquith
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Jason O'Neill
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | - Anitra Wolf
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Ronald Yeh
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Erik Vernet
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle, Inc, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Critical reagent inventory management system and web portal specifically optimized for supporting external clients. Bioanalysis 2022; 14:869-879. [PMID: 35904158 DOI: 10.4155/bio-2022-0096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
High-quality critical reagents are essential for the establishment of robust ligand binding assays to support regulated bioanalysis. To ensure consistency in assay performance over the lifetime of a project, a well-defined set of processes is needed for critical reagent life cycle management. Moreover, contract research organizations must support reagent life cycle management for diverse global clients. To address these needs, the authors designed and implemented a customized inventory management system, known as LCM+. This software solution provides external clients with efficient, secure access via a web portal to their critical reagent information, pertinent documentation and inventory tracking. Hence, the authors believe that LCM+ can serve as a useful prototype to aid the design of future inventory management systems for optimal management of critical reagents.
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