Methods and uses of antibodies in the purification of interferon

A process for the purification of a crude human leukocyte interferon, said process comprising the steps of:

• (a) passing a solution of crude interferon through an immunoaffinity adsorption column, said column having monoclonal antibody 3-A3-2 or a binding fragment thereof bound to a solid support;
• (b) eluting antibody bound interferon alpha from the column using a buffer solution;
• (c) purifying the eluate by either precipitation or by ion exchange chromatography;
• and
• (d) recovering the precipitated, or ion exchange-concentrated, interferon alpha composition obtained in step (c) comprising interferon alpha proteins of subtypes alpha 1, alpha 2, alpha 8, alpha 10, alpha 14 and alpha 21.