Advanced Antibodies, 2020

A Benchmarking System to Spark Companies to Action - Innovation That Fuels New Deal Flow and Growth Pipelines

With advances in antibody-based therapies, bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) have gained momentum in the last few years after the regulatory approvals of Amgen’s blinatumomab (Blincyto®) and Chugai’s Hemlibra for Hemophilia A. The key advantage of bsAbs lies in their ability to bind two different epitopes or antigens, thereby overcoming the limitations of monoclonal antibodies, which can only bind to a single epitope. Bispecific antibodies represent a highly promising class of therapeutics and were conceptualized more than 5 decades ago, but challenges associated with protein engineering, immunogenicity, stability, and manufacturing have dampened their commercialization.

Bispecific antibodies (bispecifics) are considered as the next gen antibody therapeutics, which could be used in cancer treatment for better cytotoxic effects, and also hold promise for certain therapeutic applications ,which are complex and refractory to other modalities, such as immune cell retargeting, site-specific targeting, and CNS targeting. With several advanced antibody engineering technologies in place- bispecific antibodies are demonstrating a high potential to transform cancer immunotherapy landscape, and also bring about a significant change in the treatment of infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.

This Radar™ profiles companies (excluding Tier 1 pharma/biopharma companies), which are highly innovative and primed for growth in the near term. It has excluded companies, which have candidates in pre-clinical/phase 1 development, and is focused on companies, which would have a near term commercial realization.