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Comprehensive Physicochemical and Biological Characterization of the Proposed Biosimilar Darbepoetin Alfa, LBDE, and Its Originator Darbepoetin Alfa, NESP®

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Abstract

Background

For regulatory approval, the comparability of a biosimilar product to an originator product should be ensured through thorough physicochemical and biological characterization.

Objective

To evaluate the biosimilarity between LBDE, the proposed biosimilar darbepoetin alfa, and NESP®, its originator, we performed a comprehensive physicochemical and biological characterization study.

Methods

Primary and higher-order protein structures were analyzed using Lys-C peptide mapping with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS), disulfide bond identification, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Glycosylation and isoform distribution were analyzed using MS, LC, and capillary zone electrophoresis. Size variants were evaluated with size-exclusion chromatography–high-performance liquid chromatography (SEC-HPLC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Biological characterization included binding affinity for human erythropoietin receptor, in vitro cell proliferation, and in vivo potency. Pharmacokinetics (PK) were evaluated using rats through two injection routes.

Results

Non-reducing and reducing Lys-C peptide mapping showed a highly similar peak profile, confirming that LBDE and NESP® have the same primary structure and disulfide bonds. Glycosylation and isoform analyses showed that the attached N-glycan and O-glycan structures were the same and their relative contents were similar. Spectroscopic analysis of LBDE showed indistinguishable spectra with NESP®. For both LBDE and NESP®, a very small amount of size variants was found in SEC-HPLC, and no minor bands were detected in SDS-PAGE. Furthermore, LBDE did not show any difference with NESP® in the in vitro and in vivo functional analyses. PK parameters of LBDE were in good agreement with those of NESP®.

Conclusion

LBDE shows high similarity to NESP® with regard to structure and function.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea

    Yeong Ran Jeong & Gyun Min Lee

  2. Biopharmaceuticals R&D, LG Chem R&D Campus Daejeon, 188 Munji-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34122, Republic of Korea

    Yeong Ran Jeong, Rae Ung Jeong, Jeong Hyun Son, Joon Cheol Kwon, Saem Jung & Mi A Song

  3. Department of Medical Bioscience, Konyang University, 121 Daehak-ro, Nonsan, Chungnam, 32992, Republic of Korea

    Jin Ah Hwang

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  1. Yeong Ran Jeong
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Contributions

All authors were involved in drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript submitted for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gyun Min Lee.

Ethics declarations

The protocol of the in vivo potency assay and rat PK study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

Funding

 This research was supported in part by a grant from the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the NRF funded by the Korean government (2013M3A9B6075931).

Conflicts of interest

Yeong Ran Jeong, Rae Ung Jeong, Jeong Hyun Son, Joon Cheol Kwon, Saem Jung, Mi A. Song, Jin Ah Hwang, and Gyun Min Lee declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Jeong, Y.R., Jeong, R.U., Son, J.H. et al. Comprehensive Physicochemical and Biological Characterization of the Proposed Biosimilar Darbepoetin Alfa, LBDE, and Its Originator Darbepoetin Alfa, NESP®. BioDrugs 32, 153–168 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40259-018-0272-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40259-018-0272-7

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