Review
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Dec 26, 2012; 3(12): 187-196
Published online Dec 26, 2012. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v3.i12.187
Frontier of therapeutic antibody discovery: The challenges and how to face them
Zhi-Jian Lu, Su-Jun Deng, Da-Gang Huang, Yun He, Ming Lei, Li Zhou, Pei Jin
Zhi-Jian Lu, Su-Jun Deng, Da-Gang Huang, Yun He, China Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Shanghai 201203, China
Ming Lei, Li Zhou, Pei Jin, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc., 250 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to drafting and editing the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Zhi-Jian Lu, PhD, China Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Co., 3728 Jinke Road, Building 3, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Shanghai 201203, China. zhijian.lu@novartis.com
Telephone: +86-21-61606477 Fax: +86-21-61606473
Received: November 1, 2012
Revised: December 19, 2012
Accepted: December 22, 2012
Published online: December 26, 2012
Processing time: 90 Days and 2.6 Hours
Abstract

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies have become an important class of modern medicines. The established technologies for therapeutic antibody discovery such as humanization of mouse antibodies, phage display of human antibody libraries and transgenic animals harboring human IgG genes have been practiced successfully so far, and many incremental improvements are being made constantly. These methodologies are responsible for currently marketed therapeutic antibodies and for the biopharma industry pipeline which are concentrated on only a few dozen targets. A key challenge for wider application of biotherapeutic approaches is the paucity of truly validated targets for biotherapeutic intervention. The efforts to expand the target space include taking the pathway approach to study the disease correlation. Since many new targets are multi-spanning and multimeric membrane proteins there is a need to develop more effective methods to generate antibodies against these difficult targets. The pharmaceutical properties of therapeutic antibodies are an active area for study concentrating on biophysical characteristics such as thermal stability and aggregation propensity. The immunogenicity of biotherapeutics in humans is a very complex issue and there are no truly predictive animal models to rely on. The in silico and T-cell response approaches identify the potential for immunogenicity; however, one needs contingency plans for emergence of anti-product antibody response for clinical trials.

Keywords: Antibody; Biotherapeutics; Biophysical property; Bispecific; Humanization; Immunogenicity; Transgenic rodent; Phage display; Yeast