The United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services

Kenneth Santora

Satoshi Nagata

Ira H Pastan

Masanori Onda

Yoshito Numata

Richard Beers

Robert Kreitman

Abhishek Sinha

CD30 is a receptor expressed on cells of Hodgkin's disease and certain leukemias. The extracellular portion of CD30 is cleaved, releasing a form known as sCD30. The invention relates in part to the discovery that a residual, extracellular 'stalk' of CD30 remains after cleavage of sCD30. The stalk provides an advantageous and previously unrecognized target for immunotoxins. The invention provides antibodies that bind to the CD30 stalk or to epitopes destroyed upon the cleavage of CD30 which results in the stalk. The invention further provides new anti-CD30 antibodies that form effective immunotoxins and are particularly suitable for making disulfide stabilized Fv ('dsFv')-immunoconjugates. The dsFv immunoconjugates can be used as reagents to label CD30-expressing cancer cells or to inhibit the growth of CD30-expressing cancer cells. Moreover, the invention provides anti-CD30 antibodies that activate complement-dependent cytotoxicity.

Anti-CD30 stalk and anti-CD30 antibodies suitable for use in immunotoxins

Growing community of inventors

Kensington, MD, United States of America

Kenneth Santora