Sequence variants (SV) in protein bio therapeutics can be categorized as unwanted impurities and may raise serious concerns in efficacy and safety of the product. Early detection of specific sequence modifications, that can result in altered physicochemical and or biological properties, is therefore desirable in product manufacturing. Because of their low abundance, and finite resolving power of conventional analytical techniques, they are often overlooked in early drug development. Here, we present a case study where trace amount of a sequence variant is identified in a monoclonal antibody (mAb) based therapeutic protein by LC–MS/MS and the structural and functional features of the SV containing mAb is assessed using appropriate analytical techniques. Further, a very sensitive selected reaction monitoring (SRM) technique is developed to quantify the SV which revealed both prominent and inconspicuous nature of the variant in process chromatography. We present the extensive characterization of a sequence variant in protein biopharmaceutical and first report on control of sequence variants to < 0.05% in final drug product by utilizing SRM based mass spectrometry method during the purification steps.

The recognition properties of 7,8-dimethyl flavin analogues by bile acid-based receptors that contain 2,6-diaminopyridine and the dioctylamide of 2,6-diaminopyridine in CHCl3 were determined. The results show that the bile acid-based receptors bind 7,8-dimethyl flavin analogues less effectively as compared to 7,8-unsubstituted flavins reported earlier, which is contrary to the known fact that the association constants increase with increasing electron-donating capacity of the substituents at the 7 and 8 positions of the flavin analogues.

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