News

New PhD Position

PDF
Our lab is opening a new PhD position in collaboration with Roche in Basel, Switzerland.
Title: Innovative chromatographic strategies for the advanced characterization of therapeutic oligonucleotides
Start date: 01 January 2027

Publication

doi
Automated and Systematic Screening of Ion-Pair Reversed-Phase LC Conditions Accelerating Assay Development of Oligonucleotides in Pharmaceutical Mixtures
In: Journal of Chromatography A, July 2026
By: Jonathan Maurer et al.

• A new automated IP-RPLC conditions screening for oligonucleotide analysis.
• Dedicated wash enabled reliable switching between ion-pair reagents.
• The platform screened ion-pair reagents, solvent, and column effects in a single workflow.
• No universal IP-RPLC conditions were suitable for all oligonucleotide impurities.

Publication

doi
Normalized peak distribution uniformity metrics for chromatographic evaluation
In: Journal of Chromatography A, June 2026
By: Mathias Buff et al.

• Two metrics were introduced to correct issues in the original SQF definition.
• Sensitivity and recommended use cases are discussed.

Publication

doi
A Protocol for Characterizing Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography Systems
In: Journal of Separation Science, May 2026
By: Megane K. Aebischer et al.

• Protocol for 2D-LC system characterization supported by a free Excel tool to help 2D-LC users to better understand their instrument.
• Confirmation of the usability of the procedure through inter-laboratory study in Europe.
• Instrument-related parameters markedly influence performance in LC×LC.

New PhD Student 🎉

Our laboratory is very pleased to welcome Léon Martin, who started a PhD thesis on April 1st, 2026.
His research will be in collaboration with Merck, Vevey, and will focus on innovative analytical strategies for the detailed characterization of last generation mAb-based products.
Welcome, Léon!

Publication

doi
Two-dimensional AEX – IP-RPLC: New insights on mRNA integrity and encapsulation efficiency of mRNA-lipid nanoparticle formulations
In: Analytica Chemica Acta, April 2026
By: Megane K. Aebischer, Athanasios Tsalmpouris, Jonathan Maurer et al.

• Single 1D-AEX – 2D-IP-RPLC method for encapsulation, integrity, mRNA-lipid adducts, and transcripts ratio of mRNA–lipid nanoparticle formulations
• Evaluation of free and total mRNA integrity profiles, separately
• Identification and characterization of surface-associated mRNA species

Publication

doi
Comprehensive evaluation of the analytical toolbox for commercial cysteine-linked antibody-drug conjugates
In: Journal of Chromatography A, April 2026
By: Jonathan Maurer et al.

• Comprehensive comparison of orthogonal methods for ADCs analysis, such as HIC-UV, nSEC-MS and middle-up RPLC-MS.
• Impact of payload hydrophobicity on DAR determination strategies.
• Charge variant profiling by icIEF and CEX across five ADCs.
• Practical guidance for selecting analytical tools based on next generation ADCs design.

Publication

doi
Retention modeling of oligonucleotides on an amide-based HILIC column: A descriptor-driven approach
In: Journal of Chromatography A, April 2026
By: Jonathan Maurer et al.

• Solvophobic effects and H-bonding dominate oligonucleotide retention on amide column, far from the classical hydrophilic partitioning model.
• Descriptor-based model predicts retention from solvent and sequence properties.
• Protic co-solvents may improve selectivity for oligonucleotide separations.

New Postdoc 🎉

Our laboratory is very pleased to welcome Agathe Depraz Depland, who started a postdoctoral position on February 1st, 2026.
She will focus on LC-HRMS coupling using innovative analytical conditions for the detailed characterization of next-generation protein- and nucleic acid-based therapeutics.
Welcome, Agathe!

Publication

doi
Simple ion-pairing reversed phase LC-UV method for the relative quantification of capping species in mRNA-based modalities
In: Journal of Chromatography B, January 2026
By: Jonathan Maurer et al.

• Development of a simple IP-RPLC-UV method for capping species relative quantification in mRNA therapeutics.
• Identification of +G impurities coming from polymerase non-templated addition.
• Robustness construction and evaluation through DoE approach.