AMS Bio has launched a new rabbit and mouse recombinant monoclonal antibody development service based upon a novel technology platform. The DimAb development platform is different from traditional hybridoma fusion technologies in that it can directly isolate IgG genes from B cells of immunised animals. Using this platform, a number of custom development projects have already been completed.
Comparing with other animals, rabbits have a unique B cell development process that is more distant from the human development process compared to rodents. Rabbit B cells use a dual affinity maturation mechanism combining gene conversion and somatic hypermutation. Additionally, rabbit IgG has a unique protein structure, including one subtype of IgG. These differences enable rabbits to produce antibodies with higher affinity and wider diversity. As a consequence, in recent years, rabbit monoclonal antibodies have gained popularity for a range of immunological assay developments, especially for pathology applications. On October 8th 2019, the first rabbit monoclonal antibody derived drug Beovu was approved by the FDA for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
In the past, rabbit monoclonal development technology required a patent protected rabbit myeloma cell line, which limited its applications in many areas. Today, the new DimAb technology platform provides a breakthrough in this area. Without using myeloma cells, AMS Bio can directly isolate IgG genes from positive B cell clones. This not only enables shorter development times, but also allows direct acquisition of IgG genetic coding information.
Although mouse hybridoma technology was developed several decades ago, it is still the major working horse people commonly using for monoclonal antibody development. However, there are limitations in the preparation of monoclonal antibodies by traditional hybridoma methods, such as low fusion efficiency of hybridoma, long preparation process, unstable hybridoma cells. The new platform offers a range of advantages, including shorter development times, high project success rate, high cloning efficiency, direct acquisition of antibody IgG gene sequence, high batch-to-batch consistency and using PMBCs does not require animals to be killed.
