▶︎ CONTEXTE AND OBJECTIVES  Immunotherapy is changing the paradigm of cancer therapy, and is also of interest in the field of chronic inflammation and infectious diseases, as revealed by the COVID pandemic. The use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in clinical applications is on the increase. The joint laboratory IAM-IT (Ingénierie des Anticorps Monoclonaux Innovants à visée thérapeutique) aims not only to develop innovative therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), but also to offer discriminating companion characterization tools. IAM-IT combines COVALAB and CTM’s expertise in molecular biology, immunology and drug delivery, including ADCs (antibody drug conjugates).

▶︎ METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS

Methodology : In collaboration with COVALAB, we have developed an innovative immunization approach to generate mAbs that recognize their target in their native conformation (Dubuisson et al. 2019) and developed molecular tools, including a gene-editing system  (Radoua et al. 2023) enabling rapid antigen modification. These innovations enable us to rapidly generate innovative mAbs endowed with pharmacological properties, and to map their epitopic recognition in order to discriminate between them and, if need be, propose a panel of distinct mAbs enabling us, for example, to bypass any resistance due to mutations.

Aims and deliverables : This Dijon-based project, accredited by the Lyonbiopôle competitiveness cluster, has led to the development of mAbs with anti-cancer properties, targeting receptors of the TNF family, and anti-infectious properties, targeting the SPIKE protein of COVID.