The goal of this research program is to develop systems for efficient, economical, high-purity recovery of proteins and peptides by displacement chromatography. In order to meet the purity requirements for human therapeutic use, the biotechnology industry employs state-of-the-art separation techniques borrowed from protein chemistry. Among the highest resolution separation processes is high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which has found a limited use on a large scale for purification of proteins. The main features impeding broader acceptance of process scale HPLC purification, in addition to the high cost of columns and equipment, are the large solvent volumes, low column capacity and loss of biological activity, particularly for proteins that irreversibly denature or aggregate at the concentrations, and under the conditions encountered during typical chromatographic operations. Displacement chromatography is an alternative to yield much higher throughput, more efficient utilization of stationary and mobile phases, and high resolution. In addition, displacement chromatography can be performed on conventional ion exchange and reversed phase chromatography columns, does not require the expensive production of exotic column reagents as do affinity separation techniques, and it involves operating steps that are readily scaled up.
