Incorporation of a cytokine domain into bispecific Single chain variable fragments targeting CD30
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a malignancy, which originates from abnormal B-cell growth. Most of the patients diagnosed with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) can be treated and cured with the standard of care, a multiagent chemotherapy regimen, sometimes followed by radiation. However, 10-30 % of patients will relapse, and 5-10 % of patients will have refractory disease to first-line treatment. HL is characterized by the presence of CD-30 positive Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells surrounded by an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which makes up over 95 % of the tumor. For this reason, CD30 is a possible target for immunotherapeutic approaches in HL.
Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are a class of recombinant proteins, which can be used as an immunotherapeutic tool for various malignancies. BsAbs are a structurally diverse class of molecules but are always composed of the binding regions of at least two different monoclonal antibodies (mAb).
We therefore aim to develop BsAbs which target different immune cells, such as T cells and NK cells as well as cells expressing CD30. We are also exploring adding additional binding domains to our BsAbs, for example to target multiple different receptors on immune cells. Additionally, we study different ways to modify the pharmakokinetics of our BsAbs.