Engineering of novel antibodies for targeted anti-viral therapy

Infectious diseases kill more than twice as many people as cancer, and the tendency is increasing due to the extensive use of immune-modulating medicines during transplantation and treatment of diseases. Whereas most of the development of therapeutic mono clonal antibodies has focused on oncological and immunological diseases, the antibody industry for infectious diseases is currently limited, but interest is increasing due to the decline in clinical effectiveness of antibiotics and the large number of immunocompromised people who will benefit greatly from antibody therapy. Although a range of antiviral drugs are on the marked, they are general, and not tailored for one type of infection. Thus, treatment using anti-viral antibody immunotherapy directed towards a pathogen of interest will be a much more safe and efficient way to combat infectious diseases, as specific targeting and neutralization of the pathogen will provide a potent product with better activity. This project aims for the development of a new technology that is built on the discovery that antibodies actually can fight infections inside the cells of the body. We will use molecular tools to design a novel class of antibodies, which will be engineered for improved properties such that the targeted pathogen is more efficiently eliminated from the body. This concept will pave the way for a new generation of antibody therapeutics tailored to efficiently combat infectious diseases. We have recently succeeded in design of IgG antibodies that can combat viral infection more efficiently than normal antibodies. In addition, we have developed an IgG scaffold that may result in extended serum half-life. The recently novel engineered antibodies have altered antiviral receptor binding properties and show decreased or enhanced ability to neutralize viruses, in addition to induce anti-viral signaling. The concept and the unique antibodies are described in two independent submitted patent applications under evaluation.A non-exclusive license agreement on one of the engineered antibodies will be signed with an international company the coming weeks.

Infeksjonssykdommer tar livet av mer en dobbelt så mange mennesker som kreft, og tendensen er økende grunnet utstrakt bruk av immundempende legemidler ved sykdom og transplantasjoner. Spesifikk og mer effektiv behandling rettet direkte mot det forårsakend e patogenet, være seg virus eller bakterie, er etterspurt. Antistoffterapi mot kreft og immunologiske sykdommer er i utstrakt og økende bruk grunnet stor klinisk effekt, enten ved at behandlingen lindrer eller kurerer sykdom. Tilsvarende er det et stort p otensial for utvikling av antistoffterapi rettet mot bekjempelse av infeksjonssykdommer. Dette prosjektet beskriver utvikling av en ny og unik teknologi som bygger på nye oppsiktsvekkende funn som avslører hvordan antistoffer kan bekjempe infeksjon på in nsiden av kroppens celler. Ved bruk av avanserte molekylære verktøy vil en helt ny form for terapeutiske antistoffer bli konstruert. Disse unike antistoffene vil binde seg til det fremmede patogenet og målrettet bli styrt til en naturlig nedbrytningsmekan isme for påfølgende effektiv nøytralisering og eliminering fra kroppen. Konseptet vil kunne bane vei for en helt ny generasjon med antistoffterapi skreddersydd for infeksjonssykdommer.