Selective isolation of biopharmaceuticals with fluid zwitterionic polymeric coacervates

forthcoming

"Gene therapy and RNA-based therapeutics hold significant promise for treating a range of debilitating disorders. A key challenge for these therapies is the effective targeted delivery, which relies on nanovehicles to ensure the stability of the delicate nucleic acids involved. Biogenic nanoparticles, such as adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), are becoming increasingly promising for these applications, with some AAV-based therapies already receiving regulatory approval. However, maintaining the physicochemical properties essential for the efficacy and safety of these products presents significant challenges, particularly due to their complex manufacturing processes, which often result in a high degree of impurities or perturbations in their structures. Traditional bioseparation methods, such as chromatography, struggle to efficiently isolate these nanoparticles without compromising their quality. To address these issues, this project proposes a novel isolation technique for AAVs using functionalized, programmable liquid-like coacervates formed from zwitterionic polymers. Previous applications on extracellular vesicles demonstrated significant improvements in purity, yield, and processing time compared to conventional methods. The liquid nature of coacervates preserves particle integrity during isolation while their anti-fouling properties enhance specificity in capturing target molecules. This scalable approach integrates the benefits of existing purification methods, offering a gentler, efficient, and simple solution for bioseparation. Building on the success of the Consolidator ERC-funded ""VELCROproteins"" project, this initiative translates insights obtained from biological condensate research to design coacervates with tunable properties for diverse biotechnological applications, particularly in the healthcare sector. The project aims to establish a new purification processes for crucial nanomaterials, paving the way for advanced therapeutic strategies."