A key challenge encountered in the current development of therapeutic protein solutions is the need to measure their viscosity to identify a stable, syringeable formulations in a large composition space. Commercially available techniques such as capillary viscometry and rotational rheometers are frequently used, but require relatively large sample volumes. This sample size requirement restricts the number of rheological measurements in the early development stage when only small amounts of protein are typically available. This talk will focus on characterizing the viscosity of protein therapeutics over a wide range of compositions with a minimal amount of material. Microrheology techniques are powerful methods to study scarce biomaterials [1]. We use multiple particle tracking (MPT) in combination with microfluidic stickers to provide a high throughput sample processing platform for protein therapeutics. This work examines the microviscosity of three monoclonal antibody solutions at 10 sample compositions with temperatures ranging from 5 to 45°C. The protein solutions exhibit Newtonian fluid behavior over a frequency range of 0.05 to 50 s-1, and do not show evidence of further microstructure development due to protein-protein association. The resulting viscosity-temperature dependence will be discussed on the basis of modified Arrhenius formula. [1] K.M. Schultz & E.M. Furst. Soft Matter 8, 6198-6205, 2012.

High-throughput passive microrheology of therapeutic protein solutions

249th National Meeting (2015)

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