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Monoclonal antibodies, such as the cancer therapeutic Pembrolizumab, have revolutionised the treatment of cancer and many inflammatory conditions. With over $100 billion in sales in 2018, they also underpin a growing biotech industry. We have developed a highly specific, high affinity therapeutic antibody candidate, and demonstrated efficacy in animal models of malignancy. This project will advance and develop this monoclonal, allowing us to initiate clinical studies in patients.
Monoclonal antibodies, such as the breast cancer therapeutic Herceptin, have revolutionised the treatment of cancer and inflammatory conditions. Will over $30 billion sales in 2011, they have also spawned a growing biotech industry. We have a generated a highly specific monoclonal antibody, which has shown efficacy in models of disease. This project will further advance and develop this monoclonal, allowing us to initiate clinical studies in patients.
Development Of Stable Human Antibody Phage Display Libraries
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$539,644.00
Summary
Antibodies are blockbuster therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and inflammation. Unfortunately, they often display limited stability which greatly hinders development and production. This project focuses on the construction of large libraries of stable antibodies, thereby streamlining the development of new therapeutics.
Great advances have been made in pharmaceutical design and discovery over the last 50 years. While drugs have traditionally been discovered using random screening of natural product libraries and chemical databases, new technologies in protein chemistry, structural and molecular biology have been adopted in efforts to speed the drug design process and increase its hit rate. In addition, our rapidly increasing knowledge of the molecular causes of many diseases provides us with many opportunities ....Great advances have been made in pharmaceutical design and discovery over the last 50 years. While drugs have traditionally been discovered using random screening of natural product libraries and chemical databases, new technologies in protein chemistry, structural and molecular biology have been adopted in efforts to speed the drug design process and increase its hit rate. In addition, our rapidly increasing knowledge of the molecular causes of many diseases provides us with many opportunities to develop therapeutics directed towards known molecular targets. Nevertheless, despite these advances, problems such as drug resistance and toxic side effects that compromise drug efficacy make it clear that there is a need for new classes of drugs with different modes of action. Because of their favourable properties, small-molecule drugs comprise by far the largest class of currently available therapeutics. However, in many cases, a drug derived from a protein may be preferable. The development of protein-based drugs is a youthful and rapidly expanding area of biotechnology, but to date, most studies have focused on targeting pathological events that occur on the outside of cells. We propose to use a combination of methods from molecular and structural biology, together with recently developed high-throughput screening techniques, to develop a generic protein drug scaffold that can be used as a template to develop therapeutics against a wide range of inappropriate interactions that may occur between molecules within cells.Read moreRead less
Structure And Interactions Of The Malarial Vaccine Candidate AMA1
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$351,000.00
Summary
Malaria remains one the most lethal infectious diseases in the world today. It is directly responsible for 1-2 million deaths annually, many of these in children under 5 years of age. More than 300 million clinical cases are reported annually and over 40% of the global population (in excess of 2 billion people) are at risk. There is an urgent need for a vaccine against this disease, particularly because of the recent increase in forms of the parasite resistant to many of the best anti-malarial d ....Malaria remains one the most lethal infectious diseases in the world today. It is directly responsible for 1-2 million deaths annually, many of these in children under 5 years of age. More than 300 million clinical cases are reported annually and over 40% of the global population (in excess of 2 billion people) are at risk. There is an urgent need for a vaccine against this disease, particularly because of the recent increase in forms of the parasite resistant to many of the best anti-malarial drugs. AMA1 is an asexual stage antigen and a leading vaccine candidate. Little is known about the function of this protein, but it has been proposed to play a role in invasion of red blood cells. A clearer understanding of the structure of parasite antigens such as AMA1 that induce a protective response in infected individuals would provide a stimulus to research into recombinant antigens as vaccines and a deeper understanding of host-parasite interactions. The aims of this project are to determine the three-dimensional structures of the three major structural domains of AMA1 and of the complete AMA1 antigen. We shall also determine the structures, both in aqueous solution and bound to AMA1, of small peptides identified by phage display as being capable of binding to AMA1 and blocking parasite entry into red blood cells. The overall goal of this work is to determine the structure of AMA1 and define the structural basis for its interaction with small peptides capable of blocking its activity as well as the structural features necessary for AMA1 to react with protective antibodies. The structure of AMA1 will provide a molecular basis for the design of engineered antigens capable of eliciting a protective immune response against AMA1. The inhibitory peptide structures will likewise provide a molecular basis for the design of non-peptidic blockers of AMA1. Either or both of these may be useful therapeutics leads in the fight against malaria.Read moreRead less
Structure And Interactions Of The Malarial Surface Antigen AMA1
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$242,545.00
Summary
Malaria remains one of the most serious infectious diseases in the world today, being responsible for 1-2 million deaths annually. There is an urgent need for a vaccine against this disease, particularly because of the recent increase in forms of the parasite resistant to many of the best anti-malarial drugs. A clearer understanding of the structure of antigens in the parasite that induce a protective response in infected individuals would provide a stimulus to research into recombinant antigens ....Malaria remains one of the most serious infectious diseases in the world today, being responsible for 1-2 million deaths annually. There is an urgent need for a vaccine against this disease, particularly because of the recent increase in forms of the parasite resistant to many of the best anti-malarial drugs. A clearer understanding of the structure of antigens in the parasite that induce a protective response in infected individuals would provide a stimulus to research into recombinant antigens as vaccines and a deeper understanding of the host-parasite interaction. AMA1 is an asexual stage antigen and a leading vaccine candidate. Little is known about the function of this protein, but it has been proposed to play a role in invasion of red blood cells. The specific aims of this project are to determine the three-dimensional structures of the three major structural domains of AMA1 and of the complete AMA1 ectodomain. The interaction of one or more of these domains with Fab fragments of protective antibodies raised against intact AMA1 will then be investigated. We also intend to determine the conformations, both in aqueous solution and bound to AMA1, of oligopeptides identified by phage display as binding to AMA1 and blocking its binding to red blood cells. The overall goals of this work are to determine the structure of AMA1 and to define the structural basis for its interaction with antibodies and small peptides that are capable of blocking its activity. This information will provide a molecular basis for the design of either synthetic antigens capable of eliciting a protective immune response against AMA1 or peptidomimetic inhibitors of AMA1. Either or both of these may be useful in the prevention or treatment of malaria.Read moreRead less