Chugai Seiyaku Kabushiki Kaisha

Shinya Ishii

Tomoyuki Igawa

Atsuhiko Maeda

Takashi Nakai

Naoka Hironiwa

Shun Shimizu

Miho Funaki

Hiroyuki Tsunoda

Tatsuhiko Tachibana

Hirotake Shiraiwa

Tetsuo Kojima

Mika Sakurai

Yoshinobu Higuchi

Yasuko Kinoshita

Takeshi Baba

Junichi Nezu

Shogo Kamikawaji

Yoshinao Ruike

An objective of the present invention is to provide methods for promoting antigen uptake into cells by antigen-binding molecules, methods for increasing the number of times of antigen binding by one antigen-binding molecule, methods for promoting reduction of the antigen concentration in plasma by administering antigen-binding molecules, and methods for improving the plasma retention of an antigen-binding molecule, as well as antigen-binding molecules that allow enhanced antigen uptake into cells, antigen-binding molecules having an increased number of times of antigen binding, antigen-binding molecules that can promote reduction of the antigen concentration in plasma when administered, antigen-binding molecules with improved plasma retention, pharmaceutical compositions comprising the above antigen-binding molecules, and methods for producing them. The present inventors revealed that the above objective can be achieved by using antigen-binding molecules that show calcium-dependent antigen-antibody reaction.

Antigen-binding molecule capable of binding to plurality of antigen molecules repeatedly

The present inventors discovered novel multispecific antigen-binding molecules with excellent cellular cytotoxicity, which comprise a first domain comprising a first antigen variable region which binds to DLL3 and a second domain comprising a second antigen variable region which binds to T cell receptor complex. The present inventors prepared further bispecific antibodies, and assessed their T cell-dependent cell cytotoxicity (TDCC), and found that they also show strong TDCC activity. Since the molecules/antibodies of the present invention show a strong cytotoxicity against cells expressing DLL3, novel pharmaceutical compositions comprising the molecules/antibodies for treating or preventing various cancers associated with DLL3 can be provided.

Cytotoxicity-inducing therapeutic agent

The present inventors discovered that antibodies having weaker antigen-binding activity at the early endosomal pH in comparison with that at the pH of plasma are capable of binding to multiple antigen molecules with a single antibody molecule, have long half-lives in plasma, and have improved durations of time in which they can bind to antigen.

Antigen-binding molecule capable of binding to two or more antigen molecules repeatedly

Antigen-binding molecule capable of binding two or more antigen molecules repeatedly

Disclosed is a library consisting essentially of a plurality of antigen-binding molecules differing in sequence from each other, wherein an antigen-binding domain in each of the antigen-binding molecules comprises at least one amino acid residue that changes the antigen-binding activity of the antigen-binding molecule depending on ion concentration conditions. Also disclosed are a composition comprising a plurality of polynucleotide molecules each encoding the antigen-binding molecules, a composition comprising a plurality of vectors each comprising the polynucleotide molecules, a method for selecting the antigen-binding molecules, a method for isolating the polynucleotide molecules, a method for producing the antigen-binding molecules, and a pharmaceutical composition comprising any of the antigen-binding molecules.

Ion concentration-dependent binding molecule library

The present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising second-generation molecules that are superior than TOCILIZUMAB, by altering the amino acid sequences of the variable and constant regions of TOCILIZUMAB, which is a humanized anti-IL-6 receptor IgG1 antibody, to enhance the antigen-neutralizing ability and increase the pharmacokinetics, so that the therapeutic effect is exerted with a less frequency of administration, and the immunogenicity, safety and physicochemical properties (stability and homogeneity) are improved. The present invention also provides methods for producing these pharmaceutical compositions. The present inventors have successfully generated second-generation molecules that are superior to TOCILIZUMAB by appropriately combining amino acid sequence alterations in the CDR domains, variable regions, and constant regions.

Methods of reducing IL-6 activity for disease treatment

The present invention provides a method for preparing a bacteriophage displaying an antigen-binding molecule, comprising the step of contacting a helper phage capable of expressing a first polypeptide with a bacterium capable of expressing a second polypeptide, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide associate with each other to form the antigen-binding molecule.

Method for producing antigen-binding molecule using modified helper phage

Antibody molecules that bind to IL-6 receptor

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Shinya Ishii