Effect of Electric Charge on Biotherapeutic Transport, Binding and Absorption: A Computational Study

2026-01-01

arXiv.org

AI Summary

This study investigates the influence of molecular charge on the transport, binding, and absorption of subcutaneously administered monoclonal antibodies. Addressing the limitation of existing models that neglect electrostatic effects, this work presents the first multiphysics numerical model coupling the Nernst–Planck equation with porous media flow theory to quantitatively simulate short-term transport and long-term absorption kinetics of monoclonal antibodies with varying net charges in subcutaneous tissue. The model systematically evaluates the sensitivity of key parameters—including buffer pH, body mass index (BMI), injection depth, and formulation concentration—and successfully reproduces experimental data from the literature. The results demonstrate that molecular charge significantly modulates drug distribution and absorption rates, offering a theoretical foundation and predictive tool for optimizing formulations of charged biologics.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Mixture of Experts (MoE)
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Neural Spike Coding
• Reasoning under Uncertainty: Relational Probabilistic Models

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Abstract

This study explores the effects of electric charge on the dynamics of drug transport and absorption in subcutaneous injections of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). We develop a novel mathematical and computational model, based on the Nernst-Planck equations and porous media flow theory, to investigate the complex interactions between mAbs and charged species in subcutaneous tissue. The model enables us to study short-term transport dynamics and long-term binding and absorption for two mAbs with different electric properties. We examine the influence of buffer pH, body mass index, injection depth, and formulation concentration on drug distribution and compare our numerical results with experimental data from the literature.

Problem

• electric charge
• monoclonal antibodies
• subcutaneous injection
• drug transport
• biotherapeutic absorption

Innovation

• Nernst-Planck equations
• porous media flow
• monoclonal antibodies
• subcutaneous injection
• charge-dependent transport