Assessment of Antibody Self-Interaction by Bio-Layer-Interferometry as a Tool for Early Stage Formulation Development

Purpose To speed up the drug development process in the biopharmaceutical industry, high throughput methods are indispensable for assessing drug candidates and potential lead formulations, in particular during late stages of discovery and early phases of development. This study aimed to establish a bio-layer-interferometry based high throughput assay for assessing formulation dependent mAb self-interaction (SI-BLI) and to compare the results with k(D) values obtained by dynamic light scattering (DLS). Methods Self-interaction of proprietary and commercially available mAbs was analyzed by SI-BLI and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Results We found significant correlations of the SI-BLI results and k(D)-values obtained by DLS for both, different mAbs in one platform formulation and for mAbs formulated in several buffer compositions. In total, we assessed self-interaction propensity of different mAbs in 58 formulations and found significant Pearson correlation (p < 0.05) between k(D) and results of SI-BLI. Conclusions The SI-BLI results correlate with k(D) and enable fast ranking of both different drug candidates and potential lead formulations. Thus, SI-BLI might decrease the risk to lose potent mAb candidates during transition from discovery to development, and help to accelerate the development of high concentration liquid formulations.