Patent ID: 8663994

Claim:
A method for assaying a sample suspected to contain a capsular saccharide from serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis (‘MenA-CPS’), comprising the steps of: (i) hydrolysing any MenA-CPS in the sample, to give a hydrolysate; (ii) subjecting the hydrolysate to liquid chromatography; and (iii) detecting any mannosamine-6-phosphate separated in step (ii), wherein the sample in step (i) includes a lyophilisation stabilizer, wherein the lyophilization stabilizer is a saccharide, wherein the lyophilisation stabiliser and the MenA-CPS are not separated from each other prior to step (ii), and wherein step (ii) results in separation of the hydrolyzed capsular saccharide and the lyophilization stabilizer.