Efficient Method Development of Lipid Nanoparticle Components Using ELSD

User Benefits

- LabSolutions MD enables efficient optimization of separation conditions for lipid nanoparticle components by streamlining the entire method development workflow. - By utilizing switching valves, automated screening of multiple mobile phase and column combinations can be performed. - For lipid nanoparticle components lacking UV absorption, an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) allows for reliable detection and quantification.

Introduction

In recent years, medical technologies utilizing messenger RNA (mRNA) have advanced rapidly, gaining attention not only for vaccines against infectious diseases but also in emerging applications such as cancer vaccines and therapies for genetic disorders.Due to the poor membrane permeability of mRNA, effective intracellular delivery requires specialized drug delivery technologies. Currently, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the primary drug delivery system (DDS) used for mRNA-based therapeutics. LNPs typically consist of four lipid components: cholesterol, ionizable lipids, PEG-modified lipids, and neutral phospholipids. Accurate separation and quantification of each lipid component are essential to ensure the efficacy and safety of LNP-mRNA formulations. In LC analysis, the choice of mobile phase and column significantly influences the retention behavior of analytes. Therefore, screening across a variety of mobile phases and columns is desirable to achieve optimal separation. However, this process is often time-consuming. This article introduces a case study in which LabSolutions MD, a dedicated software for supporting method development, was used to streamline the search for optimal separation conditions during both the screening and optimization phases for the four lipid components of LNPs. Additionally, the optimized conditions were applied to the analysis of a real lipid nanoparticle sample. Detection was performed using an ELSD, as the lipid components lack UV absorbance.

June 10, 2025 GMT