ELECTROMICROFILTRATION FOR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY RECOVERY

IN THE NEAR FUTURE, SUSTAINED PRODUCTION OF LARGE (KG) QUANTITIES OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES (MAB) WILL BE REQUIRED FOR THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS AND MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS. MEMBRANE PROCESSES ARE WELL SUITED TO PROCESSING LARGE VOLUMES OF CULTURE FLUID FOR RECOVERY OF PROTEIN PRODUCTS. THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE AND ECONOMICAL MEMBRANE PROCESS FOR THECONTINUOUS RECOVERY OF MAB FROM SUSPENSION CULTURES OF HYBRIDOMA CELLS. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH ARE TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING ELECTROMICROFILTRATION (EMF) TO THE RECOVERY OF MAB FROM MOUSE HYBRIDOMA CELL CULTURES AND TO DETERMINE THE PRINCIPAL FACTORS THAT GOVERN EFFICIENCY OF THE EMF PROCESS.TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, A HIGHLY POROUS, NONFOULING MICROPOROUS MEMBRANE WILL BE SELECTED TO USE IN AN EMF TEST CELL. PARAMETRIC AND LONG-TERM STUDIES WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD ON THE MEMBRANE FLUX AND MAB RECOVERY. A PHASE II PROGRAM WOULD FOCUS ON OPTIMIZING THE PROPERTIES OF THE MICROPOROUS MEMBRANE AND THE OPERATING CONDITIONS FOR EMF AND ON DEVELOPING A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM.