Protein L—More Than Just an Affinity Ligand

Abstract

In the past 30 years, highly specific drugs, known as antibodies, have conquered the biopharmaceutical market. In addition to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), antibody fragments are successfully applied. However, recombinant production faces challenges. Process analytical tools for monitoring and controlling production processes are scarce and time-intensive. In the downstream process (DSP), affinity ligands are established as the primary and most important step, while the application of other methods is challenging. The use of these affinity ligands as monitoring tools would enable a platform technology to monitor process steps in the USP and DSP. In this review, we highlight the current applications of affinity ligands (proteins A, G, and L) and discuss further applications as process analytical tools.