Introduction

The patent concerns the production in plan of a monoclonal antibody with unique functional characteristics ‘engineered’ starting from RITUXIMAB, one of the first monoclonal antibodies to be successfully used in the therapy of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of B cells, in B cell leukemias and in certain autoimmune diseases

Technical features

The developed procedure allows to obtain high levels of antibodies in controlled greenhouses in short times (15 days for a complete production cycle) The innovative aspect of the research concerns the creation of a new complex molecule called ‘immuno-cytokine’, obtained by the fusion of two genes, one encoding the anti-tumor antibody, the other a human cytokine, interleukin 2 (IL -2). In addition to recognizing cancer cells and mediating their elimination with the antibody portion, the designed immuno-cytokine has the advantage of targeting IL-2 precisely where it is required enhancing the immune response, thereby promoting tumor regression. One of the most significant aspects of this innovation is that the “plant biofactory” allows to produce biopharmaceuticals with satisfactory yields and with lower costs compared to traditional production systems.

Possible Applications

• Reagents for use in biomedical and diagnostic research;
• B cell tumors such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia etc.
• Autoimmune diseases;
• Graft versus host disease;
• Tumor and non-tumor diseases caused by cells expressing CD20.

Advantages

•  Biopharmaceutical production with satisfactory yields and at low costs
• Particular structure of 2B8-Fc and 2B8-Fc-hIL2 antibodies for easy genetic manipulation
• Address the cytokine IL-2 where it is more useful to strengthen the immune response
• Improved biological functionality compared to RITUXIMAB.