Bispecific and Multispecific Antibody insights

Bispecific antibodies can target two different antigens on different cell types, facilitating a stronger immune response by crosslinking these antigens and activating immune cells like T-cells. Kristel Kemper, Ph.D. (Genmab, The Netherlands) will explain how DuoBody-EpCAMx4-1BB works by targeting EpCAM on tumour cells and 4-1BB on immune cells. By crosslinking these two antigens, it enhances T-cell activation and boosts antitumor responses, which is a hallmark of bispecific antibody function

In oncology, bispecific antibodies are used to enhance immune system activation, either by engaging T-cells to target tumors or by combining multiple tumor-antigen targeting strategies for more effective cancer treatments. John Desjarlais, Ph.D. (Xencor) will talk about bispecific antibodies that engage T-cells for enhanced tumor targeting and their potential in immuno-oncology, with focus on improving the therapeutic index.

Bispecific antibodies enhance immune activation by engaging both tumour cells and immune cells simultaneously, improving T-cell responses and complement activation for a more robust immune attack against disease. Mikael Winkler, Ph.D. (Commit Biologics, Denmark) will highlight BiCE™, a platform that potentiates complement activation for more efficient immune cell killing. By using bispecific antibodies, it improves the therapeutic potential for both cancer and autoimmune diseases

Challenges in designing bispecific antibodies include selecting the right epitopes to engage both immune and target cells effectively. Advanced experimental and computational methods are used to identify and create antibodies that can activate specific immune pathways. Alexey Lugovskoy, Ph.D. (Diagonal Therapeutics) will address the difficulty in identifying effective epitopes for agonistic antibodies. By using experimental and computational techniques, bispecific antibodies targeting signaling receptors are developed to overcome these challenge

New technologies like pH-dependent biparatopic antibodies and machine learning to guide antibody design are enhancing the effectiveness and precision of bispecific and multispecific antibodies. Ryan Henrici, M.D., Ph.D. (BigHat Biosciences) will be demonstrating the use of machine learning to optimize the design of logic-gated T-cell engagers, enabling targeted tumor cell killing while sparing healthy tissue

Bispecific antibodies can be engineered to target multiple epitopes of soluble antigens in a pH-dependent manner. This allows for the formation of larger antigen-antibody complexes, which enhances the efficiency of antigen removal from the bloodstream by promoting faster cellular uptake and clearance, offering a new therapeutic avenue for diseases involving soluble antigens. Eriko Matsuda (Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Japan) will be discussing the use of pH-dependent biparatopic antibodies that bind to multiple epitopes of soluble antigens. This design promotes the formation of larger immune complexes, which enhances the efficiency of antigen removal from the bloodstream by accelerating cellular uptake.