Specifica is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted two patents to Specifica for its innovative Generation 3 Antibody Discovery Platform | News
SANTA FE, New Mexico–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 10, 2022–
Specifica, a private, innovation-driven antibody engineering company in vitro antibody library and discovery tools, announced the recent grant of two new patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office claiming “antibody libraries with maximized antibody development characteristics” for methods related to the construction of its generation 3 antibody discovery platform, as well as libraries created using the methods. The technology behind the patents is also described in two recent publications 1,2.
Antibodies are the fastest growing therapeutic class, accounting for nine of the twenty top-selling drugs. therapeutic antibodies have been generated by harvesting immune responses either from inbred or transgenic mice or from immunized human subjects. Although there has long been interest in the use in vitro antibody library approaches that avoid the use of animals, there have been two main concerns with antibodies from in vitro libraries: binding affinities tend to be lower and low developability characteristics are common, which complicates their development as effective drugs. The two granted patents cover the Specifica Generation 3 antibody discovery platform which overcomes both of these issues.
The patents, US10954508B2 and US11254931B2, claim antibody libraries that generate antibodies with maximized antibody development characteristics and methods for generating them. Specifica’s Generation 3 antibody libraries combine the use of well-behaved antibodies already clinically validated as frameworks, with natural antibody scaffold-compatible binding loop (CDR) sequences, devoid of most sequence passives to improve developability. In breeding campaigns with the generation 3 platform, phages and yeasts are used to generate a wide variety of specific antibodies with high affinity and few developability problems, without requiring maturation or development of additional affinity in most cases.
“The granting of these two patents truly validates the innovation behind our Generation 3 platform and recognizes the cutting-edge science conducted by the Specifica team. We love to innovate and have created over 100 libraries since our inception, giving us deep understanding of the issues involved in building the highest quality antibody libraries,” said Andrew Bradbury, Co-Founder and CSO of Specifica. “Together with the publications, I believe these patents cement Specifica’s status as a as the most efficient solution for in vitro antibody discovery.
About Specifica
Specifica is a rapidly growing antibody engineering company that provides the best in vitro antibody discovery libraries, screening and computational tools, as well as discovery and optimization services to the pharmaceutical industry. Specifica’s patented generation 3 antibody library discovery platform produces drug-like antibodies, with high diversity, high affinities, and low biophysical liability directly from selections, minimizing the need for affinity by downstream and biophysical engineering. In addition to in-house antibody library designs, Specifica also works closely with partners to create custom libraries in which essential elements are optimized based on partner needs. The power of the Generation 3 platform can be accessed by engaging Specifica to run antibody discovery campaigns or by fully transferring the platform’s technology in-house. In 2021, Specifica signed agreements with 10 new companies and launched 16 new discovery and optimization programs, developing 5 of its existing partnerships. Additionally, in cooperation with its software partner OpenEye, Specifica has launched AbXtract, a new suite of antibody computing tools. Specifica is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For more information, please visit www.specifica.bio and follow Specifica on Twitter and LinkedIn.
1 Teixeira, AAR et al. Drug-like antibodies with high affinity, diversity and growability directly from next-generation antibody libraries. AcM131980942, doi: 10.1080/19420862.2021.1980942 (2021).
2 Ferrara, F. et al. A comparison of pandemic discovery platforms demonstrates that a naïve antibody library can match the best immune-derived antibodies. Nature Communication13doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27799-z (2022).
3 Mullard, A. FDA approves 100th monoclonal antibody product. Nat Rev Drug Discovdoi:10.1038/d41573-021-00079-7 (2021).
4 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/monoclonal-antibody-therapy-market-102734 (2021).
5 Bradbury, ARM, Erasmus, MF & Teixeira, A. Antibody libraries with maximized antibody developability characteristics. US Patent 10,954,508 (2020).
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CONTACT: Andrew Bradbury, CSO
Specifica, Inc.
505-216-2445
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INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY HEALTH SCIENCE PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH
SOURCE: Specifications
Copyright BusinessWire 2022.
PUBLISHED: 03/10/2022 10:00 AM/DISC: 03/10/2022 10:01 AM
Copyright BusinessWire 2022.