New stable antibodies created
Scientists have developed specific mutations that increase the stability of antibody molecules. Image: z80/iStockphoto Australian scientists have overcome one of the most pressing problems facing the pharmaceutical industry – how to create antibodies that are stable enough to meet stringent requirements necessary for production in large quantities, injection into patients and long-term storage.Members of the Antibody Engineering Laboratory at Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research – Dr Daniel Christ* and PhD students Kip Dudgeon and Romain Rouet – have developed specific mutations that universally increase the stability of antibody molecules. The breakthrough finding is published in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the Academy of Science (PNAS), the journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. “When we talk to collaborators in industry, we find that 30-50% of the antibody-based drugs they develop have to be put on hold because they don’t meet quality tests that the companies or regulatory...