Facile method of quantification for oxidized tryptophan degradants of monoclonal antibody by mixed mode ultra performance liquid chromatography

Oxidation in therapeutic monoclonal antibody is a common occurrence and it may affect potency. Thus controlling and monitoring the amount of oxidized variant in the drug product sample is important since it may impact the purity. Here, we present the development of a fast and easy method utilizing size exclusion – ultra performance liquid chromatography (SE-UPLC) run under moderate hydrophobic conditions (mixed mode) to monitor the heterogeneity in drug product samples. The best separation was obtained using Waters Acquity BEH200 size exclusion column along with a mobile phase consisting of sodium acetate and sodium sulfate that separates IgG into aggregate, monomer, and fragment. The moderate salt concentration resulted in a second mode of separation based on hydrophobicity, resolving a monomer pre-peak from the monomer main peak. Multi-angle light scattering (MALS) determined the pre-peak has a similar mass as the IgG monomer. Characterization of the purified pre-peak fraction using mass spectrometry (MS), and bioactivity revealed this degradant to be a Trp-oxidized IgG monomer with significantly reduced bioactivity. Method qualification of the mixed mode UPLC method showed good recovery for the spiked monomer pre-peak and Fab fragment. However, the recovery of spiked dimer was low. This method is suitable for determining the relative distribution of the oxidized monomer and the native monomer species.