Mimicking nature’s antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) synthesised in the laboratory aim to mimic natural antibodies which are produced by the body to selectively and specifically target pathogenic proteins or antigens in response to infection and neutralise them. When used as a therapeutic, mAbs employ the same approach to seek out and neutralise the target of interest.

Over the past three decades, mAbs have revolutionised the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer and chronic immunological diseases. Building on our long-standing heritage in this field from Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) and MedImmune, we harness our extensive antibody discovery and protein engineering platform to design mAbs for therapeutic applications. For example, we are able to optimise mAbs using our proprietary extended half-life technology which can extend the length of protection of the mAbs in the body. We are also using these platforms to design mAb fragments and bispecific mAbs, which can potentially offer wider therapeutic benefits unique to these modalities.

In addition to uncovering innovative ways to incorporate antibodies in cutting-edge therapies and diagnostics across oncology, we are developing novel mAbs that can target different drivers of inflammation in a number of respiratory and immunological conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as against infectious diseases such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19.^1,2

References

1. Griffin MP, Yuan Y, Takas T, et al. Single-Dose Nirsevimab for Prevention of RSV in Preterm Infants [published correction appears in N Engl J Med. 2020 Jul 29;:]. N Engl J Med. 2020;383(5):415-425. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1913556.

2. Zost SJ, Gilchuk P, Case JB, et al. Potently neutralizing and protective human antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 15]. Nature. 2020;10.1038/s41586-020-2548-6. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2548-6.