Drifts in N-Linked Glycosylation Result in ADCC Potency Variation of Perjeta® from August 2020 to October 2021 in China

The proposed biosimilar candidate needs to demonstrate biosimilarity with reference products, and the quality target product profile and biosimilarity assessment criteria are prerequisite, which should be based on extensive characterization of the reference products. In this study, 13 lots of China-sourced pertuzumab (trademark: Perjeta®), with an expiration date from 2020 to 2021, were comprehensively characterized. Despite the consistency of purity, drifts in N-glycan profile were observed, which resulted in the variation of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity. In detail, four parametric curves of ADCC activity of the reference product were unparalleled, and the maximum response value was highly related to the content of %afucose than half-maximal effective concentration (EC50). As ADCC is a potential critical quality attribute of Perjeta®, the glycosylation of Perjeta® and its biosimilars should be tightly monitored and controlled.