MedImmune | R&D Pipeline | Technology

Drug Development Antibodies Core Technologies

Vaccine Technologies Pipeline Overview Phase 1 Drugs Phase 2 Drugs Phase 3 Drugs R&D Collaborations

MedImmune Cambridge has powerful proprietary technologies for human antibody-based drug discovery and development based on Phage Display and Ribosome Display. Following the recent announcement of a non-exclusive licence agreement with Regeneron, MedImmune will be combining Regeneron’s VelocImmune^® technology with its proprietary Display technologies, extending further the company’s industry-leading biologics platform.

MedImmune's technology has a number of advantages over alternative techniques for obtaining antibodies. These advantages include:

Speed: Our technology avoids the need for immunisation in animals, where the process of obtaining antibodies usually takes several weeks to months and will fail if the antigen is not immunogenic (ie does not induce the production of antibodies). Our technology enables the rapid identification and isolation of antibodies in vitro, usually within days.

Capacity: individual antibodies can be isolated on an unparalleled scale - through the automation of the processes involved, the isolation of antibodies to a diverse range of target antigens (including human self-antigens) is enabled.

Human: Our technology reduces the likelihood of an adverse immunological response. Human antibodies have the ability to interact with other parts of the immune system to facilitate the removal of pathogens or foreign molecules.

Optimisation: selection conditions can be altered to isolate antibodies of higher potency and affinity with particular binding characteristics, or antibodies which bind to other parts of the same protein (parts of the protein molecule not normally exposed to antibodies). Structure-activity relationships (SARs) can be investigated to provide a better understanding of the properties of a potential antibody therapeutic.

In vitro: the in vitro nature of the technology allows for a high degree of control over the antibody selection process. Additionally, antigens that are not readily amenable to in vivo technologies, due to toxicity or recognition as 'self', can be easily used within the Phage Display and Ribosome Display processes.