Automated sample preparation: enhancing analytical efficiency in biopharmaceutical development

Sample preparation is usually time consuming in pharma labs but remains the key parameter for reliable results. It can be repetitive and tedious but mostly requires strict care from the analyst. Automated sample preparation is often seen as a way to save time but besides time, accuracy and precision should also be the focus. The Andrew+ pipetting robot is one of the equipment available on the market for automated sample preparation. It is user-friendly with its associated OneLab software and can be easily customised to the experimental design. However, before switching to a pipetting robot for sample preparation, it is necessary to ensure equivalence in the results that would be obtained from Andrew compared to a skilled lab analyst. As a proof of concept prior to implementation in the lab, results on samples obtained with manual preparation were compared to results obtained after automated sample preparation on two types of experiments:

• For peptide mapping analysis, there should be equivalence in terms of sequence coverage, but it should also be assessed that the sample preparation is not inducing modifications / artifacts on different amino acids (e.g. deamidation or oxidation)
• For mAb glycans profiling, equivalence in the relative quantification of the different glycans should be proven.