FAIMS improves (?) the identification of host cell proteins in antibody drugs!

 

Antibody based drugs are developing at an absolutely phenomenal rate. This new study throws some caution cold water on the party by digging deep into the fact these antibodies are coming from cells and that sometimes other proteins come along for the ride. 

It isn't my job to weigh in on whether this is actually a big deal or not, but I hope that it isn't. Or...I hope that if it is, it's easy to fix. 

For some context from the mass spec side, if you have to get out an Orbitrap Eclipse and run a 2 hour gradient at nanoflow rates (IonOpticks 25cm!) using the ion trap so you have the highest sensitivity on your MS2s and then put on a FAIMS source to get a couple dozen peptides I'll go out on a limb and say -- there ain't much there. You have to be talking about a tiny tiny fraction of contamination, right? 

Interesting to think about, and I'm cautiously optimistic that this is actually saying very positive things about the mAB production industry. However, I guess if that mAB came from a hamster ovary cell and I was deathly allergic to hamsters rather than just grossed out by them, I'd probably want to know those 60 peptides were there? 

Put a question mark in the title in case this is something like part per Trillion detection and it isn't remotely biologically relevant and is just annoying to people making antibody drugs.