Modern chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques for protein biopharmaceutical characterization

Protein biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins are currently in widespread use for the treatment of various life-threatening diseases including cancer, autoimmune disorders, diabetes and anemia. The complexity of protein therapeutics is far exceeding that of small molecule drugs; hence, unraveling this complexity represents an analytical challenge. The current review provides the reader with state-of-the-art chromatographic and mass spectrometric tools available to dissect primary and higher order structures, post-translational modifications, purity and impurity profiles and pharmacokinetic properties of protein therapeutics.