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Barron N, Dickgiesser S, Fleischer M, Bachmann AN, Klewinghaus D, Hannewald J, Ciesielski E, Kusters I, Hammann T, Krause V, Fuchs SW, Siegmund V, Gross AW, Mueller-Pompalla D, Krah S, Zielonka S, Doerner A. A Generic Approach for Miniaturized Unbiased High-Throughput Screens of Bispecific Antibodies and Biparatopic Antibody-Drug Conjugates. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:2097. [PMID: 38396776 PMCID: PMC10889805 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25042097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The toolbox of modern antibody engineering allows the design of versatile novel functionalities exceeding nature's repertoire. Many bispecific antibodies comprise heterodimeric Fc portions recently validated through the approval of several bispecific biotherapeutics. While heterodimerization methodologies have been established for low-throughput large-scale production, few approaches exist to overcome the bottleneck of large combinatorial screening efforts that are essential for the identification of the best possible bispecific antibody. This report presents a novel, robust and miniaturized heterodimerization process based on controlled Fab-arm exchange (cFAE), which is applicable to a variety of heterodimeric formats and compatible with automated high-throughput screens. Proof of applicability was shown for two therapeutic molecule classes and two relevant functional screening read-outs. First, the miniaturized production of biparatopic anti-c-MET antibody-drug conjugates served as a proof of concept for their applicability in cytotoxic screenings on tumor cells with different target expression levels. Second, the automated workflow enabled a large unbiased combinatorial screening of biparatopic antibodies and the identification of hits mediating potent c-MET degradation. The presented workflow utilizes standard equipment and may serve as a facile, efficient and robust method for the discovery of innovative therapeutic agents in many laboratories worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Barron
- Protein and Cell Sciences, EMD Serono, 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, MA 01821, USA
| | - Stephan Dickgiesser
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Markus Fleischer
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - Daniel Klewinghaus
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Jens Hannewald
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Elke Ciesielski
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Ilja Kusters
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, EMD Serono, 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, MA 01821, USA
| | - Til Hammann
- Discovery Pharmacology, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Volker Krause
- Discovery Pharmacology, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - Vanessa Siegmund
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Alec W. Gross
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, EMD Serono, 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, MA 01821, USA
| | - Dirk Mueller-Pompalla
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Simon Krah
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stefan Zielonka
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Achim Doerner
- NBE Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
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