Dimer VEGF antagonist formulations

1. A non-liquid formulation of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antagonist made according to the steps of: (a) combining in a liquid solution the following excipients: (i) about 50 mg/mL of a VEGF antagonist, which is a dimer consisting of two identical polypeptides consisting of amino acids 27-457 of SEQ ID NO:4; (ii) about 10 mM histidine, pH about 6.3-6.5; (iii) about 1.5% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350; (iv) about 5% sucrose; and (v) about 1.5% glycine; and (b) lyophilizing the combination of step (a), wherein, following storage of the lyophilized combination obtained after step (b) at 5° C. for about 6 months, at least 98% of the VEGF antagonist is present in native conformation as measured by size exclusion chromatography upon reconstitution.

2. The non-liquid formulation of claim 1 , wherein, following storage of the lyophilized combination obtained after step (b) at 5° C. for about 3 months, the VEGF antagonist comprises at least 65% of maximum biological activity.

3. The non-liquid formulation of claim 2 , wherein the biological activity is the ability of the VEGF antagonist to inhibit the biological effects of human VEGF on a mouse Baf/2 VEGFR1/EpoR cell line reported as IC 50 .

4. The non-liquid formulation of claim 1 , wherein, following storage of the lyophilized combination obtained after step (b) at 5° C. for about 3 months, the VEGF antagonist binds VEGF at a level of at least 94% of maximum binding.

5. The non-liquid formulation of claim 4 , wherein the binding of the VEGF antagonist to VEGF is expressed as IC 50 as determined by ELISA.

6. A method of producing a liquid formulation of a VEGF-specific fusion protein antagonist, comprising reconstituting the lyophilized formulation of claim 1 with liquid, wherein a liquid formulation is generated.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the liquid is sterile water or bacteriostatic water.

8. A liquid formulation made according to the method of claim 7 .