A novel efficient bispecific antibody format, combining a conventional antigen-binding fragment with a single domain antibody, avoids potential heavy-light chain mis-pairing

Abstract

Due to the technical innovations in generating bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) in recent years, BsAbs have become important reagents for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. However, the difficulty of producing a heterodimer consisting of two different arms with high yield and purity constituted a major limitation for their application in academic and clinical settings. Here, we describe a novel Fc-containing BsAb format (Fab × sdAb-Fc) composed of a conventional antigen-binding fragment (Fab), and a single domain antibody (sdAb), which avoids heavy-light chain mis-pairing during antibody assembly. In this study, the Fab x sdAb-Fc BsAbs were efficiently produced by three widely used heavy-heavy chain heterodimerization methods: Knobs-into-holes (KIH), Charge-pairs (CP) and controlled Fab-arm exchange (cFAE), respectively. The novel Fab x sdAb-Fc format provided a rapid and efficient strategy to generate BsAb with high purity and a unique possibility to further purify desired BsAbs from undesired antibodies based on molecular weight (MW). Compared to conventional BsAb formats, the advantages of Fab x sdAb-Fc format may thus provide a straightforward opportunity to apply bispecific antibody principles to research and development of novel targets and pathways in diseases such as cancer and autoimmunity.

Keywords: Antibody chain association; Bispecific antibody; Charge-pairs; Controlled fab-arm exchange; Knobs-into-holes.