Basic study on high gradient magnetic separation of nano beads using superconducting magnet for antibody purification

The manufacturing process of antibody drugs comprises two main stages: the upstream process for antibody cultivation and the downstream process for antibody extraction. The domestic bio industry has excellent technology for the upstream process. However, it relies on the technology of foreign countries to execute downstream process such as affinity chromatography. Furthermore, there are no domestic companies capable of producing the equipment for affinity chromatography. High gradient magnetic separation technology using a high temperature superconducting magnet as a novel antibody separation and purification technology is introduced to substitute for the traditional technology of affinity chromatography. A specially designed magnetic filter was equipped in the bore of the superconducting magnet enabling the continuous magnetic separation of nano-sized paramagnetic beads that can be used as affinity magnetic nano beads for antibodies. To optimize the magnetic filter that captures superparamagnetic nanoparticles effectively, various shapes and materials were examined for the magnetic filter. The result of magnetic separation experiments show that the maximum separation and recovery ratio of superparamagnetic nanoparticles are 99.2 %, and 99.07 %, respectively under magnetic field (3 T) and flow rate (600 litter/hr).