Glycosylation is a common post-translational modification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) located on a specific asparagine amino acid site, N297. Many glycan variants exist; however, they all share a core structure of two N-acetylglucosamine residues and three mannose residues. A mAb is likely to have two different glycan species attached (glycan pairs), with one on each heavy chain, which means an astounding number of glycoforms, or mAbs with different glycan pairs, can exist. It is imperative to monitor these species, as they can impact patient safety and alter the properties of proteins, such as pharmacokinetics / pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), solubility, stability, and effector functions.

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