Purification process development of a recombinant monoclonal antibody expressed in glycoengineered Pichia pastoris

A robust and scalable purification process was developed to quickly generate antibody of high purity and sufficient quantity from glycoengineered Pichia pastoris fermentation. Protein A affinity chromatography was used to capture the antibody from fermentation supernatant. A pH gradient elution was applied to the Protein A column to prevent antibody precipitation at low pH. Antibody from Protein A chromatography contained some product related impurities, which were the misassembling of cleaved heavy chain, heavy chain and light chain. It also had some process related impurities, including Protein A residues, endotoxin, host cell DNA and proteins. Cation exchange chromatography with optimal NaCl gradient at pH 4.5-6.0 efficiently removed these product and process related impurities. The antibody from glycoengineered P. pastoris was comparable to its commercial counterpart in heterotetramer folding, physical stability and binding affinity.