Allergenic Extracts: How it s Made How to get from this: To this: Greg Plunkett, Ph.D. Allergy Lab Director ALK-Abello, Inc Round Rock, TX 1 November, 2011 Greg Plunkett, PhD Allergen Extracts for IT Topics for today Making extracts Testing extracts 100 years 2 1
Allergen Immunotherapy Allergy Immunotherapy Concerns Systemic Reactions - Anaphylaxis Low Efficacy: Sub-therapeutic Impact on Immune System False Positive / False Negative Diagnostic Tests Factors for success Methods Patients & Compliance Extracts Active Ingredients Non-Allergenic Material Allergenic Proteins Proteins 3 Extract Manufacture Allergen Source Source Material Extraction Inspection Characterization Non-Allergenic Material Non-Allergenic Protein Allergenic Protein Complexity? Purity? Stability? Potency? 4 2
Site Post Falls - Pollen Collection Field and orchard cultivation of 22 species 5 Pollen Harvester Pollen Drying 6 3
Source Material for Extracts 7 Unusual Products 8 4
Allergen Extract Quality -Purity Identity of allergen source material Contaminating substances plant parts, 1% rule mites in hair mold in mites media in mites spores in pollens pollen mixtures endotoxin from bacteria 9 Allergen Extract Quality Raw Material Quality Purity Field experts, botanists, microbiologists, and entomologists Microscopic examination and new technologies FDA regulations and cgmp (SOPs and audits) Raw Material testing Grasses and Mite, ALK Source Materials 10 5
Allergen Extract Quality Raw Material Sysmes laser counting and picture analysis, ALK-Abello, Denmark and Post Falls, Idaho near Spokane, WA 11 Making Extracts: Yesterday and Today 12 6
Making Extracts: US Products Starting Point ------- Weight Volume Non-Standardized ---- Label unit is w/v (no potency) Standardized ------ All but Short Ragweed adjusted to potency unit using FDA reference PNU products ----- Adjusted to protein nitrogen unit 40,000, 20,000, 10,000 PNU/mL. Alum adsorbed ------ Aqueous, labeled in PNU/mL 13 Extract Solutions - Diluents Extraction solutions Concentrates Aqueous Normal saline 0.9% Buffer for ph; bicarbonate, phosphate Phenol 0.4% for preservative Glycerinated Glycerin 50% (w/o phenol) Aqueous + Glycerin (w phenol) Glycerin 50% (w phenol) Mixing from concentrates IDs and Treatment Normal saline 0.9% w phenol Buffered saline w phenol Human serum albumin saline w phenol 10% glycerin saline w phenol 50% glycerin 14 7
Making Extracts 1-2 days Weight/Volume 1:5 1:100w/v 1:10 =1 g per 10mL AQ saline, buffer, phenol GLY gly, saline GLY from AQ + phenol Clarified Extract Sterile filter Non-Standardized Extract AQ (1:10w/v) Add glycerin Dilute for PNU Add alum Standardized Extract BAU/AU SRW Cat Grass Mite Adjusted potency Major allergen IgE relative potency Non-Standardized Extract GLY (1:20w/v) Non-Standardized Extract PNU 10k,20k,40k Center-Al 15 Making and Testing Allergen Extracts for IT Topics for today Making extracts yesterday and today Testing extracts 16 8
Quality Control Testing - Extracts Non-Standardized Extract AQ & PNU GLY & Alum Records: Location Sample Identify Treatment Purity- Contamination Protein profile Potency e.g. major allergen Sterility Safety Preservative phenol Glycerin ph Protein - PNU Clarity Standardized Extract Mite, grass, SRW cat hair/pelt Potency Major allergen cat, SRW IgE binding dust mite, grass Protein Ninhydrin IEF or SDS gel profile 17 Quiz - Allergenic Extracts -Potency What does AU stand for? What does BAU stand for? How many PNU equal a BAU? What does 1:20 w/v mean? How many BAU are in 1:20 w/v extracts? What is a major allergen microgram? 18 9
Allergen Extract Quality Potency = active ingredients, intact natural functional proteins, immunodominant epitopes Overall IgE binding capacity Concentration of important allergens Total protein e.g. PNU often not related Direct or indirect measurement of activity Mast Cell Cell 19 Standardization Methods Major Allergen Units or µg per ml Cat Hair and epithelial (Fel d 1) Short Ragweed (Amb a 1) Honey bee, vespid, wasp venom (Hyaluronidase / Phospholipase) IgE binding ELISA D. far and D. pter mites AU/mL 7 Northern grasses and Bermuda BAU/mL Major Allergen: Majority of atopic individuals will have IgE that bind tightly to major allergens. BAU: FDA term Bioequivalent Allergy Unit. Defined by skin testing. BAU for Grass and Cat, AU for mites. 20 10
Dilution Number Quiz Answers What does AU stand for? Allergy Units used for mites What does BAU stand for? Bioequivalent Units used for grass and cat How many PNU equal a BAU? Depends on extract What does 1:20 w/v mean? 1g source material per 20mL fluid How many BAU are in 1:20 w/v extracts? Depends on extract What is a major allergen microgram? Amount of an active ingredient 21 Goal - Well-Characterized Extracts All parameters evaluated Purity assured Allergenic complexity examined and major allergens measured Potency evaluated with appropriate assays Stability profile defined Purity Complexity 100 Potency Determining BAU Stability Sum of Erythema - mm 80 60 40 20 0 11 12 13 14 15 16 % T o June/Kentucky Bluegrass 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Days 22 11
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Thank You 23 12