Crystals of etanercept and methods of making thereof

1. A crystal of etanercept in the form of a needle or a rod.

2. A crystal of etanercept as in claim 1 , wherein the crystal is in the form of a rod.

3. A crystal of etanercept as in claim 1 , wherein the crystal has a maximum length of between 0.5 millimeters and 1.5 millimeters.

4. A crystal of etanercept as in claim 1 , wherein the crystal has a maximum length of between 0.05 millimeters and 0.3 millimeters.

5. A crystal of etanercept as in claim 1 , wherein the crystal comprises a salt selected from the group consisting of ammonium acetate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate, lithium chloride, lithium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, potassium citrate, potassium phosphate, sodium acetate, sodium chloride, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, and sodium sulfate.

6. A crystal of etanercept as in claim 1 , wherein the crystal comprises ammonium acetate, ammonium phosphate, di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate, and sodium chloride.

7. A method of making a crystal of etanercept, wherein the method comprises combining a solution of etanercept polypeptide with a crystallization buffer comprising a salt.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the combination is placed in vapor equilibrium with a reservoir of crystallization buffer.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the crystallization buffer has a pH between 4.0 and 10.5.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the salt is selected from the group consisting of ammonium acetate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate, lithium chloride, lithium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, potassium citrate, potassium phosphate, sodium acetate, sodium chloride, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, and sodium sulfate.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the concentration of salt in the crystallization buffer is between 0.04M and 1.2M.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the crystallization buffer further includes 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD) or polyethylene glycol (PEG).

13. The method of claim 7 , further comprising removing at least a portion of the crystallization buffer after crystals have formed.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the portion of crystallization buffer is removed by centrifugation.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the crystals are placed in a solution containing an organic additive.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the addition of an excipient.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the excipient is selected from the group consisting of sucrose, trehalose, or sorbitol.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the organic additive is ethanol or isopropanol.

19. The method of claim 7 , further comprising drying crystals that have formed.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the crystals are dried by exposure to air, or by exposure to a vacuum, or by exposure to nitrogen gas.

21. An etanercept crystal produced by the method of claim 7 .

22. A method of making a crystal of etanercept, wherein the method comprises combining a solution of etanercept polypeptide with co-solute means.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the solution of etanercept polypeptide is further combined with crystallization buffering means.

24. A composition comprising an etanercept crystal of claim 1 .

25. A method comprising administering to a subject an effective amount of the crystalline etanercept of claim 1 .

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the subject has a condition characterized by excessive TNF-alpha levels.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the administration of crystalline etanercept reduces levels of TNF-alpha in the serum or tissues of the subject.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the subject has rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, or ankylosing spondylitis.

29. A composition comprising etanercept in crystalline form and an ingredient selected from the group consisting of: acidifying means, active ingredients, propellant means, aggregation inhibiting means, denaturant means, alkalizing means, anticaking means, antifoaming means, antioxidant means, formulation buffering means, chelating means, coating means, coloring means, complex-forming means, dessicating means, filtering means, flavoring means, moisture-retaining means, ointment means, plasticizing means, carrier means, preserving means, solubilizing means, stabilizing means, means for dissolving, adsorbing means, stiffening means, suppository means, viscosity-increasing means, sweetening means, tablet binding means, diluent means, tablet disintegrant means, lubricating means, tonicity modifying means, vehicle means, water-repelling means, and sustained-release means.