In the pharmaceutical industry, scientists have, over the last few decades, been increasingly exploring antibody-based therapies for several human diseases. Nanobodies® are therapeutic proteins based on the smallest functional fragments of heavy chain only antibodies that, along with the conventional four-chain antibodies, are naturally found in Camelidae. Ablynx has generated functional Nanobodies® across a wide range of target classes, including cell surface molecules, secreted proteins and enzymes, and difficult targets such as GPCRs and ion channels. The Nanobody® platform provides excellent formatting flexibility allowing full control over valency and multi-specificity. Together with the excellent manufacturing, superior biophysical properties, and ability to deliver via multiple routes of administration, Nanobodies® offer multiple advantages over conventional antibodies that enable development of differentiated drugs. Currently, Ablynx has several Nanobodies® in pre-clinical and clinical trials.
In this presentation we will focus on how, using improved protocols for cell-based binding assays, we can speed up the Nanobody® lead identification, when compared to previously established standard techniques for screening.