Aggregates, large viruses, and mRNA

While SEC-MALS measures quality attributes across a wide range of sizes, the technique is limited with respect to larger particles and aggregates. This is because SEC columns may remove or shear these species, leading to incomplete characterization and quantitation.

Field-flow fractionation (FFF) with the Eclipse™ FFF system provides gentle separation in an open channel without a stationary phase. This removes the possibility of the sample being degraded or removed by the separation matrix. FFF coupled with MALS provides accurate size, molar mass, and particle concentration for bionanoparticles up to ~1 µm in diameter. As mentioned in the page Solutions for Lipid Nanoparticle Characterization, FFF-MALS can also characterize encapsulation efficiency and the payload of non-viral vectors.