Comprehending COVID-19: The Application of a Mixed-Mode Stationary Phase for the Analysis of Small Molecule Drugs Evaluated for the Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Infections

The number of publications and the publication rate gives one a sense of the intense research that was and is still being conducted to address the therapeutic options available for treating SARS-CoV-2 infections. Since the new drug development process is lengthy, one of the chosen solutions to find an immediate treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infections was to repurpose drugs already approved for other conditions. Antiviral medications, such as umifenovir, developed for the treatment and prevention of influenza were of high interest.

Although not an approved antiviral drug, remdesivir, which was originally developed to treat Ebola and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), has been shown to be one of the most promising potential therapies. A mixed-mode stationary phase, Atlantis BEH C18 AX, was chosen as a starting point for devising methods to analyze these samples containing analytes with multiple functional groups. Mixed-mode stationary phases such as Atlantis BEH C18 AX have been shown to offer unique selectivity making them beneficial during method development.

In this presentation, we will discuss:

• Peak shape and loadability benefits of mixed-mode over reversed-phase chromatography for basic analytes like umifenovir
• How to achieve MS-compatible separations with sharp peaks and good retention using mixed mode chromatography
• Key method development considerations for analytes with multiple functional groups
• Method development benefits of the unique selectivity afforded by mixed mode chromatography for analytes with multiple functional groups

Presenter: Bonnie Alden (Principal Scientist, Research & Development, Waters Corporation)

Bonnie Alden joined Waters Corporation in 1982 to work with Dr. Patrick McDonald to develop new Sep-Pak Cartridge sample preparation devices. During her career, she has been a member of teams that brought transformative chromatographic columns to market; they include Symmetry which set the industry standard in reproducibility, XTerra, the 1st hybrid chromatographic packing, which was followed by the 2nd generation BEH hybrid and the Charged Surface Hybrid (CSH).

More than 35 years later, she is still an enthusiastic student of liquid chromatography and separation science. Working as a principal scientist in the Research and Development Team of the Chemistry Technology Center, she has concentrated on the development of stationary phases for challenging analyses, such as the retention and separation of polar acids. Her current research interests are focused on modern, mixed-mode stationary phases such as Atlantis BEH C18 AX and its utilization in method development.