Engineering bispecific antibodies with defined chain pairing

Abstract

Bispecific IgG-like antibodies can simultaneously interact with two epitopes on the same or on different antigens. Therefore, these molecules facilitate novel modes of action, which cannot be addressed by conventional monospecific IgGs. However, the generation of such antibodies still appears to be demanding due to their specific architecture comprising four different polypeptide chains that need to assemble correctly. This review focusses on different strategies to circumvent this issue or to enforce a correct chain association with a focus on common-chain bispecific antibodies.

Keywords: Antibody; Bispecific antibody; Common chain bispecific antibodies in clinical development; Common heavy chain; Common light chain; Ensuring cognate light chain pairing; Heavy chain heterodimerization.