The Development and Characterization of a Highly Sensitive Mature TGFß3 Assay to Evaluate Anti-TGFß3 Target Engagement.

MTBT 1466A is a monoclonal antibody designed to bind to mature human TGFß3 in human tissue and systemic circulation. To evaluate binding of this therapeutic, a mature TGFß3 assay was needed to be able to monitor pharmacodynamic responses in non-human primate (NHP) studies. However, mature TGFß3 levels in systemic circulation are very low and require development of a highly sensitive assay for detection. This study describes the development of a highly sensitive, drug-tolerant pharmacodynamic biomarker assay for demonstrating target engagement in a pre-clinical study using MTBT1466A. Since mature TGFß3 is a dimer, a single MAb was used as both the capture and detection antibodies. This assay was developed on the SMCxPRO platform and qualified based on current accepted criteria for biomarker assays. The assay demonstrated specificity to mature TGFß3, with a lower limit of quantification of 31.3pg/mL. Although baseline levels of mature TGFß3 were below the assay detection limit in 40% of animals within our study, 2- to 16-fold increases were observed in many of the animals following multiple-dosing regimen.

Immunogenicity assays for antibody-drug conjugates: case study with ado-trastuzumab emtansine.

BACKGROUND: Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) such as Kadcyla™ (ado-trastuzumab emtansine [T-DM1]) present covalently bound cytotoxic drugs, which may influence their immunogenicity potential compared with antibody therapies. Therefore, ADCs require assay strategies that allow measurement of responses to all the molecular components. RESULTS: The immunogenicity strategy for T-DM1 used a risk-based, tiered approach that included screening and titration to detect antitherapeutic antibodies; confirmation of positive responses; and characterization to assess whether the immune response is primarily to the antibody or to the linker-drug and/or new epitopes in trastuzumab resulting from conjugation. CONCLUSION: The tiered immunogenicity assay strategy for T-DM1 allowed detection of antitherapeutic antibodies to all components of the ADC in multiple nonclinical and clinical studies. Characterization strategies implemented in clinical studies provided additional insights into the specificity of the immune response.

Overcoming soluble target interference in an anti-therapeutic antibody screening assay for an antibody-drug conjugate therapeutic.

BACKGROUND: The standard safety evaluation of biotherapeutics includes assessment of immunogenicity. Anti-therapeutic antibodies (ATA) can be detected in serum using immunoassays with a bridging format. However, these assays can be subject to interference. RESULTS: In the bridging ATA assay for 3A5 TDC, an antibody-drug conjugate that binds to the multimeric extracellular domain of MUC16 (CA125), soluble CA125 in the serum caused false-positive results by binding to the ATA assay reagents. This interaction was blocked by wheat germ agglutinin lectin as it binds to the glycans in CA125; thus, the specificity of the assay improved. CONCLUSION: The assay development and validation results showed that the addition of wheat germ agglutinin eliminates the interference from circulating CA125 without impacting the ability to detect ATA.