Our immune system recognizes and fights substances foreign to the body, such as disease-causing bacteria, viruses and other infectious agents. This defensive system is based on specialized cells and proteins protecting the organism.
These specialized proteins include antibodies and a huge variety of them are produced by our organism to be able to interact with virtually any possible pathogen. Antibodies have two very useful characteristics. First, they are extremely specific; that is, each antibody binds to and attacks one particular antigen. Second, some antibodies, once activated by the occurrence of a disease, continue to confer resistance against that disease; classic examples are the antibodies to the childhood diseases.
Cancer cells derive from normal cells and for this reason they are frequently not detected by our immune system which let them proliferate. However, it is possible to select in the laboratory monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that recognize cancer cells and distinguish them from the rest of the cells of the organism and to develop them as anticancer drugs.
Monoclonal antibodies are a very successful approach of the pharmaceutical industry. Six out of the ten blockbuster molecules are mAb’s.
Oryzon applies phage-display technology to identify new mAb’s against new cancer targets.
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