SYNTHETIC ANTIBODIES

A Potential Replacement for Monoclonal Antibodies

Integrated Diagnostics is creating a synthetic class of diagnostic and therapeutic agents with antibody-like properties: Protein-Catalyzed Capture Agents. PCCs were created in collaboration with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) using “click chemistry.”

PCCs offer the promise of superior stability, lower cost and faster creation compared to monoclonal antibodies, the current standard for identifying biomarkers in most diagnostics platforms – and in many therapeutic uses.

New peer-reviewed data demonstrating the design and use of this synthetic class of site-specific binding molecules is part of a growing body of published literature by Integrated Diagnostics and Caltech focused on crafting site-specific binding molecules.

Diagnostic & Therapeutic Agents, Created Synthetically

Using click chemistry, the process of creating PCCs is “directed” by the actual site targeted – allowing for a precise fit that results in a molecule that is highly stable both on the shelf and in vivo. The small size of the resulting molecule – approximately one-fortieth the molecular weight of an equivalent monoclonal antibody – suggests that we have created a new class of diagnostic and therapeutic agents that resembles a peptide therapeutic with antibody-like binding properties that can be utilized therapeutically and for in vivo molecular targeting.

A Word on PCCs from Our CEO

“The emergence of the next generation of diagnostics has been hampered until now by dependence on antibodies to recognize disease biomarkers,” says Albert “Al” A. Luderer, Ph.D., CEO of Integrated Diagnostics. “Antibodies are expensive, relatively unstable, slow to design, and less specific than is commonly believed. In contrast, our data suggests that PCCs, which are produced synthetically, will be inexpensive, stable, quick to design and produce, and highly specific. We believe the introduction of PCCs will allow for a diagnostics renaissance – a shift from the era of tests that monitor only one or two biomarkers, to large-scale diagnostics that monitor dozens or hundreds of biomarkers to detect cancer and other serious diseases earlier than previously possible.”