Utilizing a hydrophobic primary container surface to reduce the formation of subvisible particles in monoclonal antibody solution caused by fluid shear

The exposure of protein molecules to interfaces may cause protein aggregation and particle formation in protein formulations, especially hydrophobic interfaces, which may promote protein aggregation in solution. In this study, we found that modification of the surface properties by application of a hydrophobic Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) could reduce the generation of protein aggregates and particles in protein solution induced by fluid shear. A stable protein adsorption layer was formed at the hydrophobic interface through the strong hydrophobic interaction between the protein and hydrophobic surface, which could prevent the aggregated protein from falling off into the bulk solution to form subvisible particles and insoluble protein aggregates. In addition, human complement enzyme linked immunosorbent assay results showed that the particles that were generated in the OTS-coated container did not activate human complement which indicated the OTS-coated container could be used as primary containers for certain types of monoclonal antibody formulation.