3 big takeaways from Festival of Biologics and the future of biotherapeutics development

Festival of Biologics was an eventful gathering of leading researchers, clinicians, and regulatory agents brought together in San Diego to discuss the latest antibody and biosimilars discovery and development. The shared goal of bringing to market new and effective biotherapeutics to attack devastating diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, resonated clearly throughout the talks and discussions.

From all of the exciting new findings, here are the top three takeaways we observed at FOB 2020.

1. BITE molecules lead a path to curing cancer

Amgen’s Phillip Tagari, VP of Research gave a compelling presentation on their Bispecific T-cell engager (BITE) molecule therapy that provides promising and exciting results to patients suffering from different types of cancers. T-cell engagers exploit the body’s immune system to deliver specific therapeutic payloads to combat diseases.

2. Efficient developability of mAbs and ADCs starts with an understanding of stability early on

To identify the best therapeutic mAbs and ADCs to successfully progress to drug candidates, researchers need a better understanding of how formulations and storage conditions influence a protein’s stability. There are many methodologies scientists can use to monitor stability and aggregation and employing them earlier in the discovery phase of development is resulting in faster identification and generation of biotherapeutic candidates.

3. Plant generated antibodies are an alternative to traditional methods

Qiang (Shawn) Chen from Arizona State University shared his work on developing fragment and full-length antibodies in plants. The advantages of transient expression in plants over animal models is speed, versatility, and high protein yields. Using plants to generate antibodies is a viable platform that enables researchers to quickly express and test monoclonal antibody candidates that may one day become the next biotherapeutic drug product.

Are you ready to learn about how to monitor the stability of your mAbs and biosimilar candidates to more effectively develop immunotherapy treatments?

Check out this article to learn how leading scientists at Amgen are using PR (Prometheus) to better characterize their BITE candidate molecules.

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