(279c) The Use of Tangential Flow Filtration Systems in Synthetic Peptide Purification

Tangential flow filtration (TFF) is a pressure and shear driven separation process that uses membranes to separate components in a liquid solution based primarily on size differences. TFF processes such as microfiltration and ultrafiltration are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for concentration and buffer exchange in biologics. Due to the nature of TFF membrane materials, these unit operations have been primarily limited to aqueous or low-solvent processes. Example TFF applications include monoclonal antibodies and microbially derived proteins and peptides.

Recent advances in membrane technology have enabled the fabrication of membranes with smaller pore sizes and composed of materials with improved compatibility to organic solvents. For larger and more complex synthetic peptides, ultrafiltration may provide a superior alternative to distillation and/or chromatography for concentration and solvent exchange.

This presentation will highlight the use of ultrafiltration as part of a synthetic peptide process to concentrate purified peptide solution and to perform a solvent exchange in preparation for precipitation of the pure API. This work represents a novel transfer of TFF technology from the biologic/microbial platform to the synthetic peptide purification platform.