Abstract
Background: Domain antibodies (dAbs; ∼10–15 kDa) are made up of the variable heavy chain or the variable light chain of the antibody structure, and retain binding capability. dAbs have proved difficult to detect in plasma using immunoassay without specific antibodies raised against the dAb. Results: A sensitive and selective UPLC–MS/MS method for the absolute quantification of a dAb in monkey plasma was developed (range: 1 to 500 ng/ml) without the need for a specific capture antibody. This method was used to analyze pharmacokinetic studies early on in drug development. Furthermore, an immunoassay was developed and the pharmacokinetic samples were reanalyzed. Conclusion: The two assays show good correlation (r2 = 0.92), giving confidence in using either method for quantification of the dAb.
Ethical conduct of research
The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
All of the authors are employed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Matthew Cyronak, Jacob Dunbar, Hermes Licea-Perez and Andrew Bayliffe for critical review of the manuscript.