Dual wavelength isoelectric focusing for determining drug load in antibody drug conjugates

Abstract

Provided herein are IEF focusing methods for determining the number of drug molecules present in at least one antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) species subpopulation. In one embodiment, the method comprises performing free solution isoelectric focusing on a sample comprising at least one ADC species, to obtain a focused sample. The absorbance of the sample at two different wavelengths is then measured, for example, over a range of pI values. Absorbance values at the two different wavelengths are compared at at least one corresponding pI value, where the at least one corresponding pI value is the pI of the ADC subpopulation. The number of drug molecules in the at least one ADC species subpopulation is then determined based on the comparison. The methods provided herein can also be used to determine the number of specific binding pair members bound to its target specific binding pair member.