Feasibility of Antibody-Poly(Glutamic Acid) Complexes: Preparation of High-Concentration Antibody Formulations and Their Pharmaceutical Properties

Development of high-concentration antibody formulations for subcutaneous administration remains challenging. Recently, a precipitation-redissolution method was proposed to prepare suspensions or precipitates of salt-dissociable protein-poly(amino acid) complexes. To elucidate the utility of this method for protein therapy, we investigated the feasibility of a precipitation-redissolution method using poly(amino acid) for high-concentration antibody formulation. Omalizumab and adalimumab formulations of 150 mg/mL could be prepared using poly-l-glutamic acid (polyE) from low-concentration stock solutions. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, circular dichroism, and size-exclusion chromatography revealed that the formation of antibody-polyE complex and precipitation-redissolution process did not significantly affect the immunoreactivity or secondary structure of the antibodies. The precipitation-redissolution method was less time-consuming and more effective than lyophilization-redissolution, evaporation-redissolution, and ultrafiltration from the viewpoint of final yield. Scalability was confirmed from 400 μL to 1.0 L. The general toxicity and pharmacokinetic profiles of the antibody-polyE complex formulations were similar to those of conventional antibody formulations. These results suggested that the precipitation-redissolution method using poly(amino acid) has great potential as a concentration method for antibody formulation and medicinal use.