Monoclonal Antibody Development for Breast Cancer
Introduction of Monoclonal Antibody
In recent years, antibodies have become the fastest-growing class of biological drugs, approved for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, from cancer to autoimmune disorders. The main functions performed by antibodies are neutralization, regulatory effects, activation of the complement pathway and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Today, Therapeutic Antibodies are the most characterized and effective weapons used to fight many diseases. The challenge of finding effective small molecules for the treatment of breast cancer remains, and the emergence of monoclonal antibodies has brought new hope for breast cancer treatment. A key to breast cancer growth is the tumor microenvironment, which requires tumor cells as well as immune cells, the vascular system, and the extracellular matrix. These components provide potential targets for monoclonal antibody therapy, especially when the tumor cells themselves are difficult to target in situations such as metastasis.
Fig. 1. Overview of monoclonal antibody therapy. (Sharma P, et al., 2023)
Monoclonal Antibody Development Services
The process of monoclonal antibody drug discovery is different from that of small molecule drugs in that it requires a lot of discovery, characterization and optimization due to the diversity of antibodies and the complexity of their structure and function. Alfa Cytology can provide you with a one-stop-shop service for preclinical development of monoclonal antibody drugs:
| Services | Description |
| Target discovery and validation | The widespread use of monoclonal antibody therapies requires robust target discovery and validation. Alfa Cytology accomplishes this through in vivo and in vitro experiments, such as knock-down models using antisense technology and transgenic mouse models for phenotypic observation. |
| Antibody discovery | Antibody discovery requires a combination of in vivo and in vitro antibody generation technologies. Alfa Cytology's pathways for antibody discovery include: de novo polyclonal antibody sequencing, hybridoma generation, B-cell sequencing, and display technologies (e.g. phage, bacterial, yeast, or mammalian). |
| Characterization and lead compound selection | Alfa Cytology's antibody characterization analysis through techniques such as SPR and HDX-MS can provide information on antibody affinity, specificity and binding epitopes for the selection of lead mAb candidates. |
| Engineering and Optimization | Antibody engineering and lead compound optimization use a variety of techniques and modification strategies to improve the biological properties of monoclonal antibodies as therapeutic agents, which in turn can be engineered to target multiple receptors. |
| Candidate selection and cell line development | Therapeutic monoclonal antibody candidates should have strong therapeutic potential with optimized activity and developability. Alfa Cytology's in-depth epitope mapping by HDX-MS and full kinetic analysis by SPR can fully characterize therapeutic candidates. |
Alfa Cytology is a world-leading preclinical CRO company dedicated to assisting scientists around the world in BC research. We can provide you with BC monoclonal antibody development services and help in the development of therapies and diagnostics for BC. If you have any questions about BC research, please contact us and our experts will get back to you as soon as possible.
Reference
- Sharma P, et al. Therapeutic Antibodies in Medicine. Molecules. 2023 Sep 5;28(18):6438.