Patent Grant
10815308
This invention relates to bispecific antigen-binding molecules (e.g., antibodies) that bind factor IXa and factor X clotting factors in the blood coagulation cascade. Such bispecifics functionally substitute for factor VIII by activating factor X, restoring blood clotting ability to patients who are deficient in FVIII, i.e., patients who have type A haemophilia.
Haemophilia is an inherited condition in which the blood has a reduced ability to clot, owing to loss of function (partial or total) of one of the many clotting factors. Haemophilia A is a deficiency in blood clotting factor VIII (FVIII). The disease has mild, moderate and severe forms, depending on the degree to which the patient retains any residual FVIII function and on the balance of other components in the blood coagulation cascade. If untreated, haemophilia A leads to uncontrolled bleeding, which can result in severe disability, especially through damage to joints from haemarthrosis events. The disease is often life-limiting and can be life-threatening. The global incidence of haemophilia A is believed to be around 1:10,000. Haemophilia B (deficiency of a different blood clotting factor, factor IX) is less common, with an incidence of around 1:50,000. Both diseases are X-linked so are usually found in males, the incidence of haemophilia A in male births thus being around 1 in 5,000.
Preventing bleeding episodes is essential to improving patients' quality of life and reducing the risk of fatal blood loss. For haemophilia A, the missing co-factor can be replaced by administration of FVIII. FVIII for administration to a patient may be recombinantly expressed or it may be purified from blood plasma. Typically, patients on this treatment self-inject with FVIII every 48 hours or 3× per week.
Treatment with FVIII is not a perfect solution. A serious drawback is that it can trigger production of allo-antibodies in the body. This renders treatment with FVIII ineffective, as the allo-antibodies bind the FVIII and prevent its activity, putting the patient in a dangerous situation if a bleed occurs. Such inhibitory antibodies develop in about 30% of patients treated with FVIII for severe haemophilia.
Treatment with plasma-derived FVIII, rather than the recombinant form, has been reported to have a lower risk of triggering inhibitory antibodies in patients. This may be due to the plasma-derived form retaining Von Willebrand factor (VWF), which is found naturally in association with FVIII and may mask immunogenic epitopes. However, no form of FVIII has yet been produced that completely avoids the risk of inhibitory antibodies.
Despite being possibly more immunogenic, recombinant FVIII offers some advantages over the plasma-derived form, since being more stable it is easier and cheaper to store and transport. The risk of transmitting infections via products from donated blood plasma is now much reduced compared with the 1980s when viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV were inadvertently spread to recipients of infected blood products, but of course the need for strict safety controls remains.
New recombinant forms of FVIII have been developed, such as the B-domain truncated polypeptide turoctocog alfa (NovoEight®). However, such products are ineffective for patients that develop neutralising antibodies against FVIII. Some patients successfully undergo immune tolerance induction to prevent anti-FVIII antibodies from developing. However, there remains a substantial demand for alternatives to FVIII for use in patients who have, or are at risk of developing, inhibitory antibodies.
One such alternative is recombinant factor VIIa, known as activated eptacog alfa (NovoSeven®). However, it has a short half-life and must be injected every few hours. Its use is largely restricted to rescue therapy or providing haemostatic cover during surgery in haemophiliacs who have inhibitory antibodies, rather than being a viable option for long term protective treatment.
Another available product is FEIBA (Factor Eight Inhibitor Bypassing Activity), an activated prothrombin complex concentrate (aPCC), which similarly can be used to control bleeding episodes and to prevent bleeding during surgical interventions in haemophiliac patients who have inhibitors to factor VIII.
A variety of other alternative therapies are currently being pursued, such as gene therapy, suppression of anti-thrombin using siRNA, and an antibody to TFPI (Tissue factor Pathway Inhibitor), concizumab.
One approach is a humanised bispecific IgG antibody targeting both factor IXa (FIXa) and factor X (FX). The bispecific antibody binds FIXa with one arm and FX with the other arm, bringing these two co-factors together and thereby promoting FIXa-catalysed activation of FX in the same way that FVIII does. Thus, the antibody functionally replaces FVIII in the blood coagulation cascade (
In 2012, Kitazawa et al reported isolation of a FIXa/X bispecific antibody which was able to activate FX, from a screen of approximately 40,000 anti-FIXa/X bispecific antibodies that had been produced by immunising 92 laboratory animals with human FIXa or FX and co-transfecting the anti-FIXa and anti-FX antibody genes into host cells for expression [1]. The selected antibody was refined to generate a humanised antibody designated hBS23, which showed coagulation activity in FVIII-deficient plasma and in vivo haemostatic activity in primates [1]. A more potent version of this antibody, designated hBS910 [2], entered clinical trials under the investigational drug name ACE910, INN emicizumab [3]. The development of ACE910 took place in one of the leading antibody groups globally. Nevertheless, it took more than 7 years to engineer a molecule with the appropriate in vivo efficacy and with biochemical and biophysical properties suitable for clinical scale manufacturing.
In a phase I study of 48 healthy male subjects receiving ACE910 subcutaneously at doses up to 1 mg/kg, 2 subjects tested positive for anti-ACE910 antibodies [4]. The antibody was reported to have a linear pharmacokinetic profile and a half-life of about 4-5 weeks [4]. Emicizumab was subsequently administered to 18 Japanese patients with severe haemophilia A, at weekly subcutaneous doses of up to 3 mg/kg, and was reported to reduce the episodic use of clotting factors to control bleeding in these patients [5]. In December 2016, emicizumab was reported to have met its primary endpoint in a phase III clinical trial for reducing bleeding in patients with haemophilia A (the “HAVEN 1” study). A statistically significant reduction in the number of bleeds was reported for patients treated with emicizumab prophylaxis compared with those receiving no prophylactic treatment. The study was also reported to have met all secondary endpoints, including a statistically significant reduction in the number of bleeds over time with emicizumab prophylaxis treatment in an intra-patient comparison in people who had received prior bypassing agent prophylaxis treatment. The efficacy data on emicizumab are therefore encouraging, although safety concerns were heightened by the death of a patient on the HAVEN 1 study. The approved drug carries a boxed warning regarding the risk of thrombotic microangiopathy and thromboembolism in patients receiving aPCC in combination with emicizumab. As noted above, aPCC is used to control bleeding in patients who have inhibitory antibodies to FVIII, a key patient group for treatment with the bispecific antibody.
It is important to note that management of haemophilia requires continuous treatment for a patient's lifetime, beginning at the point of diagnosis—which is usually in infancy—and calls for a therapy that will be tolerated without adverse effects and that will remain effective over several decades or even a century. Long term safety, including low immunogenicity, is therefore of greater significance for an anti-haemophilia antibody compared with antibodies that are intended to be administered over a shorter duration such as a period of weeks, months or even a few years.
WO2018/098363 described bispecific antibodies binding to FIX and FX, isolated from a human antibody yeast library (Adimab). WO2018/098363 disclosed that increasing the affinity of the anti-FIXa arm of a bispecific antibody results in an increase in FVIIIa activity (represented by decreased blood clotting time in an assay). A bispecific antibody “BS-027125” was generated by affinity maturation of an initially selected “parent” antibody, which increased the affinity of its FIXa-binding arm. BS-027125 was reported to achieve approximately 90% FVIIIa-like activity in a one-stage clotting assay. When compared with emicizumab, BS-027125 was reported to exhibit much higher affinity binding to factor FIX zymogen, FIXa and FX zymogen, and much lower binding (no detected binding) to FXa. The FIX-binding arm, “BIIB-9-1336” reportedly showed selective binding for FIXa (activated FIX) in preference to FIX zymogen (mature FIX prior to proteolytic activation), and was found to bind an epitope overlapping with the FIXa epitope bound by FVIIIa. The FX-binding arm, “BIIB-12-917”, reportedly showed selective binding to FX zymogen, lacked detectable binding to (activated) FXa, and bound an epitope of FX that lies within the activation peptide (which is present in FX zymogen but not FXa). Further mutations were then introduced into selected FIX-binding antibodies, including BIIB-9-1336, to generate libraries from which to select for antibodies with even further increased specificity and/or affinity for FIXa.
WO2018/141863 and WO2018/145125 also described anti-FIXaxFX bispecific antibodies and their use as procoagulants for treating or reducing bleeding.
The present invention relates to improved bispecific antigen-binding molecules that bind blood clotting factors FIXa and FX. The bispecific antigen-binding molecules of the present invention enhance the FIXa-catalysed activation of FX to FXa, and can effectively replace the natural cofactor FVIIIa which is missing in patients with haemophilia A, to restore the ability of the patients' blood to clot. See
As reported here, the inventors succeeded in generating a number of bispecific antigen-binding molecules having suitable qualities for development as therapeutic products, including very high potency in enhancing FX activation. Described are bispecific antigen-binding molecules having novel binding sites for anti-FIXa and anti-FX, which can be used to effectively substitute for FVIIIa in the blood clotting cascade. In particular, an anti-FIXa binding site is described which is highly active in combination with an array of different anti-FX binding sites and can thus be incorporated into a variety of different FIXa-FX bispecifics, providing flexibility for selection of bispecific antibodies with further desired characteristics such as ease of manufacture.
The inventors have designed bispecific antibodies which combine a potent FVIII mimetic activity (as indicated by high performance in in vitro assays) with robust biochemical and biophysical properties suitable for clinical scale manufacturing (including expression, bispecific molecular assembly, purification and formulation), and which are of fully human origin, thereby minimising the risk of immunogenicity in human in vivo therapy.
Aspects of the invention are set out in the appended claims, and further embodiments and preferred features of the invention are described below.
In a first aspect, the present invention relates to bispecific antigen-binding molecules comprising (i) a FIXa binding polypeptide arm comprising a FIXa binding site, and (ii) a FX binding polypeptide arm comprising a FX binding site. The FIXa and/or the FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise an antibody Fv region comprising the FIXa or FX binding site respectively. An antibody Fv region is an antibody VH-VL domain pair. The VH domain comprises HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 in a VH domain framework, and the VL domain comprises LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3 in a VL domain framework. The polypeptide arm may comprise an antibody heavy chain (optionally one comprising an IgG constant region) and/or an antibody light chain.
Antigen-binding molecules of the present invention may thus comprise
The half-life extending region may be a heterodimerisation region, comprising a first polypeptide covalently linked (e.g., as a fusion protein) to the first antibody Fv region and a second polypeptide covalently linked (e.g., as a fusion protein) to the second antibody Fv region, wherein the two polypeptides pair covalently and/or non-covalently with one another. The first and second polypeptides of the heterodimerisation region may have identical or different amino acid sequences. The heterodimerisation region may comprise one or more antibody constant domains, e.g., it may be an antibody Fc region.
Bispecific antigen-binding molecules of the present invention are able to bind FIXa through the FIXa binding site of the FIXa binding polypeptide arm and to bind FX through the FX binding site of the FX binding polypeptide arm, and thereby enhance the FIXa-catalysed activation of FX to FXa. This may be determined in an in vitro FX activation assay as described herein.
The FIXa binding site may be provided by a set of complementarity determining regions (CDRs) in the FIXa binding polypeptide arm, the set of CDRs comprising HCDR1, HCDR2, HCDR3 and LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3. Optionally, HCDR1 is SEQ ID NO: 406, HCDR2 is SEQ ID NO: 407 and HCDR3 is SEQ ID NO: 408. Optionally, LCDR1 is SEQ ID NO: 6, LCDR2 is SEQ ID NO: 7 and LCDR3 is SEQ ID NO: 8.
The set of HCDRs in the FIXa binding polypeptide arm may be the set of HCDRs of any anti-FIX VH domain shown herein, such as any shown in Table S-9A, any identified in Table N, or any of the VH domains N0128H, N0436H, N0511H, N1091H, N1172H, N1280H, N1314H, N1327H or N1333H shown in
The set of LCDRs in the FIXa binding polypeptide arm may be the set of LCDRs of any anti-FIX VL domain shown herein. The LCDRs may be the LCDRs of 0128L as shown in Table S-50. LCDR1 may be SEQ ID NO: 6, LCDR2 may be SEQ ID NO: 7 and/or LCDR3 may be SEQ ID NO: 8.
Optionally, one or more amino acids in the set of CDRs may be mutated to differ from these sequences. For example, the set of CDRs may comprise 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 amino acid alterations, the altered residue or residues being in any one or more of the heavy or light chain CDRs. For example the set of CDRs may comprise one or two conservative substitutions. The choice of mutations, e.g., substitutions, can be informed by the information and analysis provided in the Examples herein.
The FIXa binding polypeptide arm may comprise an antibody VH domain comprising a set of HCDRs HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3. The sequence of HCDR1 may be SEQ ID NO: 406, optionally with one or two amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions). The sequence of HCDR2 may be SEQ ID NO: 407, optionally with one or two amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions). The sequence of HCDR3 may be SEQ ID NO: 408, optionally with one or two amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions).
The FIXa binding polypeptide arm may comprise an antibody VL domain comprising a set of LCDRs LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3. The sequence of LCDR1 may be SEQ ID NO: 6, optionally with one or two amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions). The sequence of LCDR2 may be SEQ ID NO: 7, optionally with one or two amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions). The sequence of LCDR3 may be SEQ ID NO: 8, optionally with one or two amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions).
The antibody Fv region of the FIXa binding polypeptide arm may comprise a VH domain generated through recombination of immunoglobulin heavy chain v, d and j gene segments, wherein the v gene segment is VH3-7 (e.g., VH3-7*01), wherein the j gene segment is JH6 (e.g. JH6*02), and optionally wherein the d gene segment is DH1-26 (e.g., DH1-26*01), and/or it may comprise a VL domain generated through recombination of immunoglobulin light chain v and j gene segments, wherein the v gene segment is VL3-21 (e.g., VL3-21*d01) and the j gene segment is JL2 (e.g., JL2*01). In another embodiment, a VL domain may be one that is generated through recombination of immunoglobulin light chain v and j gene segments, wherein the v gene segment is VL3-21 (e.g., VL3-21*d01) and the j gene segment is JL3 (e.g., JL3*02).
The amino acid sequence of the VH domain of a FIXa polypeptide binding arm may share at least 90% sequence identity with a VH domain shown in
The amino acid sequence of the VL domain may share at least 90% sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 10 (0128L). Sequence identity may be at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99%. Optionally the VL domain amino acid sequence is SEQ ID NO: 10. The VL domain amino acid sequence may alternatively be SEQ ID NO: 416.
The FX binding site may be provided by a set of CDRs in the FX binding polypeptide arm. The FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise an antibody VH-VL domain pair (i.e., an antibody Fv region), the VH domain comprising HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 in a framework, and the VL domain comprising LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3 in a framework.
The FX binding site may be provided by the HCDRs of any anti-FX VH domain identified herein (e.g., any set of HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 of a VH domain shown in Table S10-C and/or in
The FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise a VH domain having at least 90% amino acid sequence identity with a VH domain disclosed herein, including any in Table S-10C and/or in
The FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise a VH domain having at least 90% amino acid sequence identity with the T0201 VH domain (shown in
The FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise any VH domain amino acid sequence identified herein, such as any shown in Table S-10C, any identified in Table T or any from
The FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise a VL domain having at least 90% amino acid sequence identity with the 0128L VL domain SEQ ID NO: 10. Sequence identity may be at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99%. Optionally the VL domain comprises the amino acid sequence of the 0128L VL domain with up to 5 amino acid substitutions, i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 substitutions. Optionally the VL domain amino acid sequence is SEQ ID NO: 10. Alternatively the VL domain sequence is SEQ ID NO: 416.
The FX binding polypeptide arm may comprise an antibody Fv region comprising
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is a bispecific antibody that binds FIXa and FX and catalyses FIXa-mediated activation of FX, wherein the antibody comprises two immunoglobulin heavy-light chain pairs, wherein
Another aspect of the present invention is a bispecific antibody that binds FIXa and FX and catalyses FIXa-mediated activation of FX, wherein the antibody comprises two immunoglobulin heavy-light chain pairs, wherein
Another aspect of the present invention is a bispecific antibody that binds FIXa and FX and catalyses FIXa-mediated activation of FX, wherein the antibody comprises two immunoglobulin heavy-light chain pairs, wherein
The first VH domain may comprise a set of HCDRs comprising HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 with amino acid sequences defined wherein HCDR1 is SEQ ID NO: 406, HCDR2 is SEQ ID NO: 407 and HCDR3 is SEQ ID NO: 408.
The first VH domain may have at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99% amino acid sequence identity to N1280H. The first VH domain may comprise a set of N1280H HCDRs comprising N1280H HCDR1, N1280H HCDR2 and N1280H HCDR3. For example, it may be the N1280H VH domain. Alternatively, the VH domain may be the N1441H, N1442H or N1454H VH domain.
Amino acid sequences of example VH domains and sets of VH CDRs are shown in
Examples of residues and substitutions that may be retained or introduced in the first VH domain include the following (defined with reference to N1280H, with IMGT numbering as shown in
Substitution of another residue (e.g., Asp, Glu, His, Asn, Gln, Met, Thr, Gly, Ser, Ala, Ile, Leu, Val or Tyr) at Lys84 in FR3, e.g., Lys84Asp or Lys84Glu; and Substitution of another residue at Ser86 in FR3, e.g., a negatively charged residue such as Glu (Ser86Glu).
Further examples include:
Substitution of a negatively charged residue (e.g., Asp or Glu) or His at one or more of Gln3, Val5, Gly9, Gly11, Gly16, Gly17 and Leu21 FR1, such as any of Gln3Asp, Gln3Glu, Gln3His, Val5Glu, Gly9Glu, Gly11Asp, Gly11Glu, Gly11His, Gly16Glu, Gly17Asp, Gly17Glu or Leu21Asp;
Substitution of a negatively charged residue at Val68 and/or Val71 in FR3, e.g., Val68Asp, Val68Glu or Val71Glu;
Substitution of His, Gln or Leu at Arg75 in FR3;
Substitution of Ser, Thr, Gly, Leu or Lys at Arg80 in FR3; and
Substitution of Asp or His at Asn82 in FR3.
Any one or more of the above-listed sequence features may be included.
The second VH domain may be, or may have at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99% amino acid sequence identity to T0201H or any other VH domain shown in
Optionally, HCDR1 is SEQ ID NO: 636 or SEQ ID NO: 598. Optionally, HCDR2 is SEQ ID NO: 467. Optionally, HCDR3 is SEQ ID NO: 637, SEQ ID NO: 638, SEQ ID NO: 639 or SEQ ID NO: 565.
Examples of residues and substitutions that may be retained or introduced in the second VH domain include the following (defined with reference to T0201H, with IMGT numbering as shown in
Substitution of a positively charged residue at Thr86 in FR3, e.g., Thr86Arg or Thr86Lys.
Any one or more of the above-listed sequence features may be included.
The FIXa binding polypeptide arm and the FX binding polypeptide arm may each comprise an antibody Fv, wherein the VL domain of each Fv has an identical amino acid sequence, i.e. the bispecific antigen-binding molecule has a common VL domain. The molecule may have a common light chain comprising a variable region and a constant region, optionally a human lambda constant region.
The bispecific antigen-binding molecule may be a tetrameric immunoglobulin comprising
As noted, the light chain may be a common light chain, i.e., the light chain of the first and second heavy-light chain pairs has an identical amino acid sequence. Each heavy-light chain pair may comprise the 0128L CL constant domain paired with a CH1 domain. The sequence of the light chain may be SEQ ID NO: 405. Alternatively the sequence of the light chain may be SEQ ID NO: 414. Exemplary immunoglobulin isotypes include human IgG, e.g., IgG4, optionally with engineered constant domains such as IgG4 PE.
The Fc domain of a bispecific antibody may be engineered to promote heterodimerisation over homodimerisation. For example, the heavy chain constant region of the first heavy-light chain pair may comprise a different amino acid sequence from the heavy chain constant region of the second heavy-light chain pair, wherein the different amino acid sequences are engineered to promote heterodimerisation of the heavy chain constant regions. Examples include knobs-into-holes mutations or charge pair mutations. Alternatively, the heavy chain constant region of the first heavy-light chain pair may be identical to the heavy chain constant region of the second heavy-light chain pair, in which case it is expected that both homodimers and heterodimers will assemble, and these will be subsequently separated using one or more purification steps in the antibody manufacturing process to isolate the desired heterodimer comprising one anti-FIXa arm and one anti-FX arm.
An advantageous feature of bispecific antibodies exemplified here is that they have been generated from human immunoglobulin gene segments, using the Kymouse platform. Unlike antibodies generated from immunisation of normal laboratory animals, which may require “humanisation” steps such as grafting of mouse CDRs into human antibody variable domains and iterative refinement of the engineered variable domains to mitigate a loss of function resulting from these changes, the antibodies of the present invention were generated and selected from the outset with fully human antibody variable domains. The use of a fully human antibody is of special relevance in the context of haemophilia treatment, where low immunogenicity is paramount, as noted above. The low immunogenicity of the bispecific antibodies of the present invention renders them suitable for treatment of haemophilia A patients, including those with or without inhibitory antibodies to other treatments such as FVIII. Patients receiving antigen-binding molecules of the present invention should be at minimal risk of developing an immunogenic response to the therapy.
The mode of action of the bispecific molecules is also associated with a good safety profile, with low risk of complications such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Activity of the bispecific molecules is comparable with that of natural FVIII and a mechanism of action that is integrated within the existing blood coagulation pathway, being activated only in the context of upstream triggering of the natural clotting cascade.
Bispecific antibodies according to the present invention have shown strong activity in a number of functionally relevant assays for FVIII mimetic activity, including factor Xase assay, activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) assay and thrombin generation assay (TGA), as exemplified herein.
Other desirable features include long-half life (reducing the required frequency of administration) and amenability of the molecules to formulation at high concentration (facilitating subcutaneous injection in the home setting).
Patient compliance is recognised to be a significant issue for long term self-administered therapy, especially among teenage and young adult patients. For a treatment to succeed in the field, its administration schedule should be simple for the patient to understand and follow with minimum inconvenience. Long intervals between administered doses are desirable, but reducing dose frequency without sacrificing therapeutic activity requires a product with both a long in vivo half life and a sufficient efficacy at “trough” concentrations towards the end of a dosing period. Antigen-binding molecules according to the present invention desirably have a long in vivo half life. This can be facilitated by inclusion of an Fc region which undergoes recycling in vivo via FcRn. Antigen-binding molecules according to the present invention also preferably maintain high functional activity at low concentration. We found that bispecific antibodies according to the present invention have a thrombogenic activity similar to that of emicizumab but with an increase in thrombogenic activity that is most pronounced at lower concentrations. Data disclosed herein indicate that bispecific antibodies according to the present invention possess a thrombogenic activity that is the same as or surpasses that of emicizumab at concentrations in at least the range of 1 to 300 nM, for example when the antibody and emicizumab are tested at the following concentrations:
Activity can be measured in the thrombin generation assay described herein. Effective activity at low concentrations may help to ensure that protection against bleeds is maintained towards the end of a dosing period—the in vivo concentration of the antibody being lowest in the final days before the next dose is due. It may also assist in protecting areas of the body which are relatively poorly perfused by the circulation—including the joints, which are a common site of problematic bleeding in haemophiliac patients.
Further aspects of the invention relate to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the bispecific antigen-binding molecules and their use in medicine including for the treatment of haemophilia A, as set out in the appended claims and described in the present disclosure.
Monospecific antibodies are also provided as aspects of the present invention. Thus, an anti-FIXa antibody may comprise two copies of a first heavy-light chain pair as defined herein. An anti-FX antibody may comprise two copies of a second heavy-light chain pair as defined herein.
Further aspects include nucleic acid molecules encoding sequences of the antibodies described herein, host cells containing such nucleic acids, and methods of producing the antibodies by culturing the host cells and expressing and optionally isolating or purifying the antibodies. The expressed antibody is thereby obtained. VH and VL domains of antibodies described herein may similarly be produced and are aspects of the present invention. Suitable production methods of antibodies include large-scale expression from host cells (e.g, mammalian cells) in a bioreactor by continuous or batch culture (e.g., fed batch culture).
Aspects and embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the drawings, in which:
Blood Coagulation
The blood coagulation cascade is diagrammed in
FVIII is cleaved by thrombin or factor Xa (FXa), and the resultant factor Villa (FVIIIa) presents a heterotrimeric structure consisting of the A1 subunit, the A2 subunit, and the light chain. Upon activation and in the presence of calcium ions and a phospholipid surface (on platelets), FVIIIa binds via its light chain and A2 subunit to FIXa and simultaneously binds via its A1 subunit to FX, forming an active intrinsic “tenase” or “Xase” complex in which the FVIIIa cofactor brings FIXa and FX into proximity and also allosterically enhances the catalytic rate constant of FIXa. See
Haemophilia arise through a deficiency in the Xase complex, due either to a lack of FVIII cofactor activity (haemophilia A) or a lack of FIX enzyme activity (haemophilia B).
Factor IX (FIX)
Factor IX is a serine protease which requires factor VIII as a cofactor. It circulates in blood as an inactive precursor, which is activated through intrinsic or extrinsic pathway at the time of haemostatic challenge, as discussed above.
Unless the context requires otherwise, factor IX referred to herein is human factor IX, and factor IXa is human factor IXa.
The amino acid sequence of human factor IX is shown in
The molecular basis of haemophilia B—deficiency in FIXa activity—is diverse, including a variety of point mutations, nonsense mutations, mRNA splice site mutations, deletions, insertions, or mis-sense mutations at activation cleavage sites [9].
The catalytic (protease) domain of activated FIX (FIXa) is involved in binding to FVIIIa. Residue E245 in this domain binds calcium ions, and mutations at this position may reduce binding to FVIII and lead to haemophilia B, for example the substitution E245V. Mutations within the FIX helix formed by residues 330-338 are also linked with reduced binding to FVIII and consequently to haemophilia B.
Non-pathogenic mutations in factor IX have also been reported, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and length polymorphisms—reviewed in [9]. These include the MnII SNP in exon 6, resulting in T/A substitution at residue 148 (Malmo polymorphism), which is relatively common among white and black American populations [9].
Factor X (FX)
Unless the context requires otherwise, factor X referred to herein is human factor X, and factor Xa is human factor Xa. The amino acid sequence of human FX is shown in
FX is also known as Stuart-Prower factor. It is a serine endopeptidase. FX can be activated, by hydrolysis, into factor Xa by either factor IX (together with its cofactor, factor FVIII, as described above) or factor VII (with its cofactor, tissue factor). FX acts by cleaving prothrombin in two places—at an Arg-Thr bond and then at an Arg-Ile bond, to yield the active thrombin.
Antigen-Binding
A desirable feature of the bispecific antigen-binding molecule is that it binds FIXa and FX in a manner that allows the bound FIXa to activate the bound FX.
To bring FIXa and FX together and thereby promote the activation of FX by FIXa, the bispecific antigen-binding molecule may bind these two cofactors simultaneously. Binding may occur sequentially, e.g., an initial binary complex may form between a first binding arm and its cognate antigen, followed by binding of the second binding arm to its cognate antigen. In principle these two binding events may occur in either sequence, i.e., FIXa followed by FX, or FX followed by FIXa. The molecular choreography is influenced by the relative affinities of the two binding sites for their respective antigens. In a population of bispecific antigen-binding molecules, FIXa and FX, a number of different complexes are expected to exist in parallel. Thus the pool will comprise free antigen-binding molecule, free FIXa, free FX, FIXa complexed with antigen-binding molecule, FX complexed with antigen-binding molecule, and a tertiary complex of FIX, FX and antigen-binding molecule, with each of these species being present in different proportions according to the relative on-rates and off-rates of the individual interactions.
It may be preferable for a bispecific antigen-binding molecule to have a higher affinity for FIXa than for FX. Such a bispecific molecule would be envisaged to form an initial complex with FIXa, which in turn would bind and activate FX. The relatively low affinity for FX reduces the proportion of FX that is bound in incomplete antibody-antigen complexes (i.e., without FIXa). A potential advantage of this is that it allows a greater proportion of FX to remain free to engage with any FVIII that may be present in a patient's blood. Haemophilia A encompasses a range of deficiencies in FVIII, ranging from mild deficiency to total absence of functional FVIII. For those patients who retain some functional FVIII, it may be desirable to retain this natural activity as far as possible. Thus, it may be desirable to provide a bispecific antigen-binding molecule in which the FX binding arm does not compete with FVIII for binding to FX.
Preferably the FX binding arm has a higher affinity for FX than for FXa. A low affinity for FXa promotes release of the activated product, completing the role of the FVIII-mimetic molecule in the coagulation cascade and freeing the FX binding site for re-use. In various embodiments, a bispecific described herein (e.g., antibody IXAX-1280.0999.0325 or antibody IXAX-1441.0999.0325), the FX binding arm of such a bispecific (e.g., binding arm comprising T0999H VH domain), or an anti-FX monospecific antibody comprising a homodimer of two such arms, has at least 2-fold higher, at least 3-fold higher, at least 4-fold higher, at least 5-fold higher, at least 10-fold higher, at least 100-fold higher affinity for FX than for FXa, e.g., at least 1000-fold higher affinity for FX than for FXa, and optionally does not show significant binding to FXa, e.g., as measured by ELISA. For example, in various embodiments the bispecific, FX binding arm or anti-FX monospecific antibody (e.g., TINA-0999.0325) does not bind human FXa as determined by ELISA and with reference to a negative control IgG. As an alternative to ELISA, affinity may be measured by SPR and the affinity for FX compared with affinity for FXa.
FIXa Binding
The FIXa binding arm of a bispecific antigen-binding molecule may bind the light chain and/or the heavy chain of FIXa. Initial studies indicated that FIXa binding arms of the N128 lineage described in the Examples do not bind the FIXa light chain in isolation (in the absence of the heavy chain).
A bispecific antigen-binding molecule of the present invention (or FIXa binding polypeptide arm thereof) may thus be one which binds a FIXa molecule comprising a heavy chain and a light chain, and which does not bind the FIX light chain in the absence of the heavy chain. Optionally, the FIXa binding arm recognises an epitope formed by, or stabilised by, the combination of the FIXa heavy and light chains. It may for example make contact only with the light chain in the FIXa molecule, binding an epitope that is exposed or stabilised only when the light chain is present in combination with the heavy chain in the FIXa molecule. Alternatively, it may contact an epitope comprising one or more residues from both the light chain and the heavy chain, or comprising residues of the heavy chain alone.
An antigen-binding molecule according to the present invention, or a FIXa-binding polypeptide arm thereof, may bind the EC domain of human FIXa with an affinity (measured as K
The K
The K
The K
An antigen-binding molecule according to the present invention, or a FIXa-binding polypeptide arm thereof, may bind human FIX with an affinity (measured as K
The K
As described elsewhere herein, affinity may be determined using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), e.g., with the binding arm coupled to a solid surface, optionally as a dimer (e.g., as monospecific IgG), with the antigen in solution as analyte, at 25° C.
FX Binding
An antigen-binding molecule according to the present invention, or a FX-binding polypeptide arm thereof, may bind the EC domain of human FX with a K
The K
The K
As described elsewhere herein, affinity may be determined using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), e.g., with the binding arm coupled to a solid surface, optionally as a dimer (e.g., as monospecific IgG), with the antigen in solution as analyte, at 25° C.
Measurement of Antigen-Binding Affinity
The affinity of an antigen-binding molecule for binding FIX, FIXa, FX and FXa may be quantified in terms of the equilibrium dissociation constant K
Quantification of affinity may be performed using SPR with the antigen-binding polypeptide arm in monovalent form, e.g., antibody Fab or Fv comprising the antigen binding site, or heterodimeric immunoglobulin (e.g., IgG) having a single antigen-binding arm for the antigen in question. Alternatively, it may be convenient to determine affinity for the antigen-binding polypeptide arm in bivalent form, for example IgG comprising homodimeric antigen-binding arms. SPR may comprise coating dimers of the antigen-binding polypeptide arm on to a biosensor chip (directly or indirectly), exposing the antigen-binding polypeptide arms to antigen in buffered solution at a range of concentrations, detecting binding, and calculating the equilibrium dissociation constant K
Cross-Reactivity
Regulatory bodies may require candidate therapeutic molecules to have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in laboratory animals before they advance to human clinical trials. An example of an acquired haemophilia A animal model is a cynomolgus monkey that is rendered deficient in blood clotting through administration of a FVIII-neutralising antibody or a small molecule inhibitor against FVIII, thereby replicating the phenotype of a human haemophilia A patient. To enable testing of bispecific antigen-binding molecules in animal models, it is desirable for the binding site of each arm to be cross-reactive with the corresponding antigen from one or more non-human mammals. Thus, the FIXa binding site of the antigen-binding molecule may bind murine (e.g., mouse or rat), rabbit or non-human primate (e.g., cynomolgus monkey) FIXa as well as human FIXa, and the FX binding site may bind murine (e.g., mouse or rat), rabbit or non-human primate (e.g., cynomolgus monkey) FXa as well as human FXa.
One way to quantify the extent of species cross-reactivity of an antigen-binding molecule (or, more precisely, of its antigen binding site) is as the fold-difference in its affinity for antigen or one species compared with antigen of another species, e.g., fold difference in affinity for human antigen vs cynomolgus antigen. Affinity may be quantified as K
A species cross-reactive binding molecule may have a fold-difference in affinity for binding human and non-human antigen that is 30-fold or less, 25-fold or less, 20-fold or less, 15-fold or less, 10-fold or less or 5-fold or less. To put it another way, the K
Preferably, the binding affinities of human and non-human antigen are within a range of 10-fold or less, more preferably within 5-fold or within 2-fold. K
Binding molecules can also be considered species cross-reactive if the K
While species cross-reactivity for binding antigen of different species may be advantageous, selectivity of the FIXa binding arm and the FX binding arm for their respective antigens is nevertheless desirable to avoid unwanted side effects. Thus, within the body, FIX/FIXa and FX/FXa are preferably the only antigens bound by the antigen-binding molecule.
Enhancement of FIXa-Mediated Activation of FX
The ability of a bispecific antigen-binding molecule to enhance the FIXa-mediated activation of FX to FXa may be determined in assays in vitro or in vivo.
A suitable in vitro assay is the FX activation assay exemplified in Example 3 and Example 7 and illustrated in
A detailed protocol is set out in Example 7.
The level of product may be compared with a control assay in which FIXa-FX bispecific antigen-binding molecule is absent from the reaction mixture. Significant difference in product level in the assay with the bispecific compared with control indicates that the bispecific is able to enhance FIXa-mediated activation of FX. FVIII may be included as a positive control.
The level of product may be compared with an assay in which the FIXa-FX bispecific antigen-binding molecule is emicizumab. A bispecific according to the present invention may enhance the FIXa-mediated activation of FX to FXa to the same or similar extent (e.g., within 10% difference or within 5% difference) as emicizumab, or to a greater extent (e.g., more than 10% more activation of FX to FXa than is achieved with emicizumab as measured by the level of detectable product). Preferably the bispecific antibody enhances the FIXa-mediated activation of FX to FXa to at least the same extent as emicizumab. The assay is typically performed at physiological temperature of 37 degrees C. Suitable concentrations of bispecific for use in the assay are indicated in the Examples herein, e.g., 12.5 μg/ml (10.4 nM) or 125 nM.
Another suitable assay is to measure the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) in FVIII-deficient plasma, which may be performed in the presence or the absence of inhibitors and can be used to compare the activity of bispecific molecules with recombinant human FVIII. This assay is exemplified in Example 8. aPTT is an end point assay which provides a global overview of blood clot formation and provides coagulation time as the assay read-out. FVIII-deficient plasma would typically have a coagulation time of around 80-90 seconds in the aPTT assay. Bispecific antigen binding molecules of the present invention are effective to reduce the coagulation time in an aPTT assay (compared with a negative control). The coagulation time of human FVIII-deficient in an aPTT assay with a bispecific antigen binding molecule according to the present invention may for example be the same as or less than that of the coagulation time with recombinant human FVIIIa. Physiological clotting time for normal (FVIII+) human plasma is typically <40 seconds, e.g., in the range of 37-34 s. Similar values are achievable with FVIII-deficient plasma upon provision of activated FVIIIa, which provides a convenient way of standardising the assay through calibration of the apparatus/measurement against reference values. Alternatively, coagulation time of normal (FVIII+) human plasma may be used for reference, the aPTT assay being begun by induction of coagulation through the addition of calcium. The assay is typically performed at physiological temperature of 37 degrees C. Suitable concentrations of bispecific for use in the assay are indicated in the Examples herein, and include 0.1 mg/ml (44 nM), 0.3 mg/ml (133 nM) and 0.5 mg/ml (222 nM).
A bispecific antigen-binding molecule of the present invention may give a coagulation time in the aPTT assay of within 10 seconds of that of FVIIIa (i.e., up to 10 seconds more than or up to 10 seconds less than the coagulation time of the aPTT assay with FVIIIa). Preferably, the coagulation time in the aPTT assay with a bispecific antigen binding molecule of the invention is less than that with FVIIIa. The bispecific antigen-binding molecule may reduce the coagulation time to less than 40 seconds, less than 35 seconds, or less than 30 seconds. The coagulation time may be between 20 and 40 seconds, e.g., between 20 and 30 seconds. Preferably the coagulation time is 22-28 seconds, e.g., 24-26 seconds.
Another measure of function is the rate at which thrombin is generated in FVIII-deficient blood plasma in the presence of the bispecific antigen-binding molecule. Activity of a bispecific antibody may be measured in a thrombin generation assay (TGA) [10]. A number of thrombin generation assays have been described, as recently reviewed [11]. Essentially, a TGA comprises measuring the conversion (activation) of prothrombin to thrombin over time following addition of a test molecule (here, the candidate bispecific antibody), where thrombin is detected via its cleavage of a substrate to form a detectable product.
With reference to
To perform the TGA, FVIII-deficient plasma is contacted with (i) the trigger reagent, (ii) a substrate convertable by thrombin to a detectable product, e.g., a fluorogenic or chromogenic substrate which produces a visually detectable product on cleavage by thrombin, and (iii) the test molecule (e.g., bispecific antibody), to create conditions under which the presence of FVIII-mimetic activity would result in thrombin generation and hence a signal from the detectable product. Typically, the plasma will lack free metal ions such as calcium, which are required in the blood clotting cascade (
Fluorescence may be converted to thrombin concentration by calibrating against known concentrations of thrombin added to control plasma. A thrombogram may then be generated (
Preferably, bispecific antibodies (or other test molecules) are suitably purified for use in the TGA (e.g., by protein A chromatography and ion exchange chromatography or hydrophobic interaction chromatography), e.g., to provide the bispecific in a composition of at least 95 bispecific heterodimer (i.e., no more than 5% homodimeric or other antibody contaminants should be present). Preferably the test molecule is provided as close to 100% purity as possible. It may be about 98, 99% or 100% pure bispecific.
Approximate reference ranges for plasma from healthy individuals in a fluorogenic TGA are Cmax 200 to 450 nM and Tmax 5 to 8 minutes [11]. Activity in a TGA can also be compared against published representative thrombin generation curves for plasma from healthy individuals, patients with severe FVIII deficiency and patients with severe FVIII deficiency after FVIII infusion [12]. For standardisation, performance in the TGA may also be compared against a calibrator which represents a positive control molecule at known concentration. A dilution series of the test bispecific may be compared against the calibrator at a series of known fixed concentrations. A suitable calibrator is an emicizumab calibrator. Emicizumab calibrator is available commercially, prepared from FVIII immunodepleted citrated human plasma spiked with 100 μg/mL emicizumab (Hemlibra®) and further comprising buffer and stabilisers. It is supplied in lyophilised form and is reconstituted in water before use in the TGA. The exact concentration of emicizumab in the calibrator phial is known, so the activity of a test bispecific molecule in the assay can be compared against the activity of the calibrator after normalising for concentration. As an alternative control for comparison of a bispecific antibody against emicizumab, performance of the test bispecific antibody in the TGA may be compared against performance of a control bispecific antibody having the amino acid sequence of emicizumab, wherein the test bispecific antibody and the bispecific antibody having the amino acid sequence of emicizumab are tested under identical conditions in the TGA.
The TGA may be used to characterise six aspects of thrombin generation: lag time (lag), time to peak (Tmax), maximal peak height (Cmax), endogenous thrombin potential (ETP), velocity index (VI) and the “tail start” or return to baseline. The lag time represents the initiation phase before the thrombin peak begins to be generated, where addition of a trigger results in the activation of the coagulation cascade. Once initiated, large amounts of thrombin are quickly generated during the propagation phase. The time to peak represents the time taken (Tmax) to reach maximal thrombin peak height (Cmax), the ETP represents the total amount of thrombin generated and the velocity index characterises the slope between the lag time and the time to peak. The return to baseline (tail start) reflects the inhibition (by activated protein C) of thrombin formation and the inactivation (by antithrombin) of thrombin already formed. The Cmax and/or Tmax is typically the key measure used to represent activity in the TGA. References values in the TGA (e.g., Cmax, Tmax, lagtime etc.) may be determined for the bispecific at a fixed concentration, e.g, 1 nM, 3 nM, 10 nM, 30 nM, 100 nM or 300 nM. Parameters may be measured a series of concentrations, e.g., at 1 nM, 3 nM, 10 nM, 30 nM, 100 nM and 300 nM and/or other concentrations to obtain a complete dose response curve, allowing EC50 values to then be determined. The dose response curve can be fitted using a non-linear log(antibody) vs response variable slope model (e.g., variable slope 4 parameter logistic regression model, which may be performed using GraphPad Prism v8.0.0). EC50 is the concentration of test molecule (e.g., antibody) at which half-maximal effect is reached (half way between baseline and maximal value of the measured parameter). EC50 can be determined from the dose response curve. Worked examples with EC50 data are presented in Example 14 herein.
In one embodiment, the TGA comprises:
(a) contacting FVIII-deficient plasma lacking free calcium ions with
Said one or more parameters are determined at a series of concentrations of the bispecific antibody to obtain a complete dose response curve including baseline and top plateau (maximal value) of response. A dose response curves may be fitted to the data points using a non-linear log [antibody] vs response parameter variable slope model (4 parameter logistic regression model). EC50 is determined from said dose response curve. Said one or more parameters, or EC50 for said one or more parameters, may be compared between the test bispecific antibody and emicizumab (e.g., emicizumab calibrator, as available from Enzyme Research Laboratories).
A bispecific antibody according to the present invention preferably exhibits a potency that is similar to or greater than that of emicizumab in a fluorimetric TGA. Higher potency may be represented by lower EC50 for one or more parameters in said assay, e.g., Cmax, Tmax or lagtime. As demonstrated in the Examples herein, embodiments of the present invention consistently demonstrated greater potency than emicizumab at lower concentrations. See, for example, the results presented in
The maximal response (e.g., highest Cmax, lowest Tmax, shortest lagtime, etc) in the fluorimetric TGA is also noteworthy. Maximal response is the level at which the measured parameter (e.g., Cmax) plateaus with increasing antibody concentration, and represents the maximum achievable level (e.g., the maximal Cmax). An excessive maximal response may be associated with increased risks of overdosing the bispecific molecule, including risk of consumption coagulopathy or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) which is characterised by abnormally increased activation of procoagulant pathways. Hypercoagulability may compromise patient safety through coagulopathy events such as arterial/venous thrombosis, embolism and thrombotic microangiopathy, and would thus narrow the therapeutic window, i.e., the range of dose or plasma concentration at which a beneficial effect is achieved without unacceptable side effects or risk of adverse events.
Since emicizumab has received regulatory approval based on a safety profile deemed acceptable in human clinical trials, the maximal response of emicizumab in the TGA represent established safe limits. Optionally, bispecifics of the present invention have a maximal Cmax and/or maximal Tmax response in the TGA which is not more than 20% (e.g., not more than 15 or not more than 10%) different from that of emicizumab. These reference values may be determined using an emicizumab calibrator or a sequence identical analogue of emicizumab.
Bispecifics of the present invention may demonstrate maximal responses in the TGA as follows:
A bispecific antigen-binding molecule according to the present invention may have a Cmax in the range of 100 to 450 nM (e.g., 200 to 450 nM) as determined by fluorimetric TGA, e.g., wherein the bispecific antibody is at a concentration of 100 nM or 300 nM in said assay. The Cmax is preferably at least 200 nM, more preferably at least 250 nM or at least 300 nM. The Cmax of the bispecific may be the same or similar to (e.g., within 10% difference from) the Cmax of emicizumab, or it may be greater than that of emicizumab. The bispecific may have a Cmax EC50 in said assay that is within 10% of the Cmax EC50 of emicizumab, or that is lower. Where the EC50 is lower than that of emicizumab, there may be at least a 2-fold, at least a 3-fold, at least a 4-fold or at least a 5-fold difference in Cmax EC50 in the TGA between the bispecific of the present invention and emicizumab. Optionally the Cmax EC50 in the TGA may be up to 10-fold, up to 15-fold or up to 20-fold different. EC50 of the Cmax for the bispecific antigen-binding molecule in the fluorimetric TGA may be less than 50 nM, e.g., between 1 nM and 50 nM, between 5 nM and 20 nM, or between 5 nM and 10 nM.
A bispecific antigen-binding molecule according to the present invention may have a Tmax of 8 minutes or under, e.g., in the range of 4 to 8 minutes, as determined by fluorimetric TGA, e.g., wherein the bispecific antibody is at a concentration of 100 nM or 300 nM in said assay. The Tmax of the bispecific may be the same or similar to (e.g., within 10% difference from) the Tmax of emicizumab, or it may be less than that of emicizumab. The bispecific may have a Tmax EC50 in said assay that is within 10% of the Tmax EC50 of emicizumab, or that is lower.
EC50 of the Tmax for the bispecific antigen-binding molecule in the fluorimetric TGA may be less than 5 nM, e.g., less than 3 nM or less than 2 nM. It may be between 1 nM and 5 nM, e.g., between 1 nM and 2 nM.
A bispecific antigen-binding molecule according to the present invention may have a lag time of 2-6 minutes as determined by fluorometric TGA, e.g., wherein the bispecific antibody is at a concentration of 100 nM or 300 nM in said assay. The lagtime of the bispecific may be the same or similar to (e.g., within 10% difference from) the lagtime of emicizumab, or it may be lower than that of emicizumab. The bispecific may have a lagtime EC50 in said assay that is within 10% of the lagtime EC50 of emicizumab, or that is lower.
Bispecific Antigen-Binding Molecules
The bispecific antigen-binding molecule comprises a FIXa binding polypeptide arm and a FX binding polypeptide arm. It may be a multi-chain or single-chain polypeptide molecule. While the FIXa binding polypeptide arm and the FX binding polypeptide arm represent different moieties of the bispecific molecule, one polypeptide can optionally form all or part of both the FIXa binding arm and the FX binding arm.
A polypeptide binding arm is the region of the bispecific molecule that comprises the binding site for one of the antigens (FIXa or FX). One or both antigen-binding sites of a bispecific molecule can be provided by a set of complementarity determining regions (or peptide loops) in a polypeptide arm, wherein the polypeptide arm is any suitable scaffold polypeptide whether that of an antibody (e.g., an antibody Fv region) or a non-antibody molecule. A binding arm may comprise one or more than one (e.g., two) polypeptides or parts (e.g., domains) thereof.
The invention is described in detail herein with reference to bispecific antibodies, wherein at least one of the antigen binding polypeptide arms is provided by a set of CDRs in an antibody VH and/or VL domain, optionally an Fv region.
Antibodies are immunoglobulins or molecules comprising immunoglobulin domains. Antibodies may be IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD or IgE molecules or molecules including antigen-specific antibody fragments thereof. The term “antibody” covers any polypeptide or protein comprising an antibody antigen-binding site. An antibody antigen-binding site (paratope) is the part of an antibody that binds to and is complementary to the epitope of its target antigen. The term “epitope” refers to a region of an antigen that is bound by an antibody. Epitopes may be defined as structural or functional. Functional epitopes are generally a subset of the structural epitopes and have those residues that directly contribute to the affinity of the interaction. Epitopes may also be conformational, that is, composed of non-linear amino acids. In certain embodiments, epitopes may include determinants that are chemically active surface groupings of molecules such as amino acids, sugar side chains, phosphoryl groups, or sulphonyl groups, and, in certain embodiments, may have specific three-dimensional structural characteristics, and/or specific charge characteristics.
An antibody antigen-binding site is provided by a set of complementarity determining regions (CDRs) in an antibody VH and/or VL domain, and is capable of binding the antigen. In an example, the antibody binding site is provided by a single variable domain, e.g., a heavy chain variable domain (VH domain) or a light chain variable domain (VL domain). In another example, the binding site is provided by a VH/VL pair (an Fv) or two or more such pairs.
The antibody variable domains are the portions of the light and heavy chains of antibodies that include amino acid sequences of complementarity determining regions (CDRs; ie., CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3), and framework regions (FRs). Thus, within each of the VH and VL domains are CDRs and FRs. A VH domain comprises a set of HCDRs, and a VL domain comprises a set of LCDRs. VH refers to the variable domain of the heavy chain. VL refers to the variable domain of the light chain. Each VH and VL is typically composed of three CDRs and four FRs, arranged from amino-terminus to carboxy-terminus in the following order: FR1, CDR1, FR2, CDR2, FR3, CDR3, FR4. Amino acid positions assigned to CDRs and FRs may be defined according to IMGT nomenclature. An antibody may comprise an antibody VH domain comprising a VH CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 and a framework. It may alternatively or also comprise an antibody VL domain comprising a VL CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 and a framework. Example sequences of antibody VH and VL domains and CDRs form part of the present disclosure. The CDRs are defined according to the IMGT system [13]. All VH and VL sequences, CDR sequences, sets of CDRs and sets of HCDRs and sets of LCDRs disclosed herein represent aspects and embodiments of the invention. As described herein, a “set of CDRs” comprises CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3. Thus, a set of HCDRs refers to HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3, and a set of LCDRs refers to LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3. Unless otherwise stated, a “set of CDRs” includes HCDRs and LCDRs.
An antibody may comprise one or more CDRs, e.g. a set of CDRs, within an antibody framework. The framework regions may be of human germline gene segment sequences. Thus, the antibody may be a human antibody having a VH domain comprising a set of HCDRs in a human germline framework. Normally the antibody also has a VL domain comprising a set of LCDRs, e.g. in a human germline framework. An antibody “gene segment”, e.g., a VH gene segment, D gene segment, or JH gene segment refers to oligonucleotide having a nucleic acid sequence from which that portion of an antibody is derived, e.g., a VH gene segment is an oligonucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence that corresponds to a polypeptide VH domain from FR1 to part of CDR3. Human v, d and j gene segments recombine to generate the VH domain, and human v and j segments recombine to generate the VL domain. The D domain or region refers to the diversity domain or region of an antibody chain. J domain or region refers to the joining domain or region of an antibody chain. Somatic hypermutation may result in an antibody VH or VL domain having framework regions that do not exactly match or align with the corresponding gene segments, but sequence alignment can be used to identify the closest gene segments and thus identify from which particular combination of gene segments a particular VH or VL domain is derived. When aligning antibody sequences with gene segments, the antibody amino acid sequence may be aligned with the amino acid sequence encoded by the gene segment, or the antibody nucleotide sequence may be aligned directly with the nucleotide sequence of the gene segment. Germline gene segments corresponding to framework regions of example antibodies described herein are indicated in Table S-12.
An antibody may be a whole immunoglobulin, including constant regions, or may be an antibody fragment. An antibody fragment is a portion of an intact antibody, for example comprising the antigen binding and/or variable region of the intact antibody. The antibody fragment may include one or more constant region domains.
An antibody of the invention may be a human antibody or a chimaeric antibody comprising human variable regions and non-human (e.g., mouse) constant regions. The antibody of the invention for example has human variable regions, and optionally also has human constant regions.
Thus, antibodies optionally include constant regions or parts thereof, e.g., human antibody constant regions or parts thereof, such as a human IgG4 constant region. For example, a VL domain may be attached at its C-terminal end to antibody light chain kappa or lambda constant domains. Similarly, an antibody VH domain may be attached at its C-terminal end to all or part (e.g. a CH1 domain or Fc region) of an immunoglobulin heavy chain constant region derived from any antibody isotype, e.g. IgG, IgA, IgE and IgM and any of the isotype sub-classes, such as IgG1 or IgG4.
Digestion of whole (bivalent) immunoglobulins with the enzyme papain results in two identical (monovalent) antigen-binding fragments known as “Fab” fragments, and an “Fc” fragment. The Fc has no antigen-binding activity but has the ability to crystallize. “Fab” when used herein refers to a fragment of an antibody that includes one constant and one variable domain of each of the heavy and light chains. The term “Fc region” herein is used to define a C-terminal region of an immunoglobulin heavy chain, including native-sequence Fc regions and variant Fc regions. The “Fc fragment” refers to the carboxy-terminal portions of both H chains held together by disulphides.
Digestion of antibodies with the enzyme pepsin results in a bivalent F(ab′)2 fragment in which the two arms of the antibody molecule remain linked. The F(ab′)2 fragment is a bivalent fragment including two Fab fragments linked by a disulphide bridge at the hinge region. Single-chain antibodies (e.g., scFv) are another fragment. Two different monovalent monospecific antibody fragments such as scFv may be linked together to form a bivalent bispecific antibody.
“Fv” when used herein refers to the minimum fragment of an antibody that retains both antigen-recognition and antigen-binding sites. This region consists of a dimer of one heavy and one light chain variable domain in tight, non-covalent or covalent association. It is in this configuration that the three CDRs of each variable domain interact to define an antigen-binding site on the surface of the VH-VL dimer. Collectively, the six CDRs confer antigen-binding specificity to the antibody. However, even a single variable domain (or half of an Fv comprising only three CDRs specific for an antigen) has the ability to recognise and bind antigen, although usually at a lower affinity than the entire binding site.
Preferably, the bispecific antibody is a dual binding antibody, i.e., a bispecific antibody in which both antigen binding domains are formed by a VH/VL pair. Dual binding antibodies include FIT-Ig (see WO2015/103072, incorporated herein by reference), mAb-dAb, dock and lock, Fab-arm exchange, SEEDbody, Triomab, LUZ-Y, Fcab, Kλ-body, orthogonal Fab, scDiabody-Fc, diabody-Fc, tandem scFv-Fc, Fab-scFv-Fc, Fab-scFv, intrabody, BITE, diabody, DART, TandAb, scDiabody, scDiabody-CH3, Diabody-CH3, Triple body, Miniantibody, minibody, scFv-CH3 KIH, scFv-CH-CL-scFv, F(ab′)2-scFv, scFv-KIH, Fab-scFv-Fc, tetravalent HCab, ImmTAC, knobs-in-holes, knobs-in-holes with common light chain, knobs-in-holes with common light chain and charge pairs, charge pairs, charge pairs with common light chain, DT-IgG, DutaMab, IgG(H)-scFv, scFv-(H)IgG, IgG(L)-scFv, scFv-(L)IgG, IgG(L,H)-Fv, IgG(H)-V, V(H)-IgG, IgG(L)-V, V(L)-IgG, KIH IgG-scFab, 2scFv-IgG, IgG-2scFv and scFv4-Ig.
In one embodiment, the bispecific antibody is a bispecific IgG comprising a FIXa-binding polypeptide arm and a FX-binding polypeptide arm, each polypeptide arm comprising a heavy chain and a light chain. The IgG is a tetrameric immunoglobulin comprising
Optionally, the two polypeptide arms comprise a common light chain, so the light chain of the first and second heavy-light chain pairs has an identical amino acid sequence (
Bispecific antibody may be monovalent for binding FIXa and for binding FX.
Antibody Constant Regions
As discussed above, antibodies can be provided in various isotypes and with different constant regions. The Fc region of antibodies is recognised by Fc receptors and determines the ability of the antibody to mediate cellular effector functions, including antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity, complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) activity and antibody-dependent cell phagocytosis (ADCP) activity. These cellular effector functions involve recruitment of cells bearing Fc receptors to the site of the target cells, resulting in killing of the antibody-bound cell.
In the context of the present invention it is desirable to avoid cellular effector functions such as ADCC, ADCP and/or CDC. Therefore, bispecific antigen-binding molecules according to the present invention may lack Fc effector function, for example they may contain Fc regions that do not mediate ADCC, ADCP and/or CDC, or they may lack Fc regions or lack antibody constant regions entirely. An antibody may have a constant region which is effector null.
An antibody may have a heavy chain constant region that binds one or more types of Fc receptor but does not induce cellular effector functions, i.e., does not mediate ADCC, CDC or ADCP activity. Such a constant region may be unable to bind the particular Fc receptor(s) responsible for triggering ADCC, CDC or ADCP activity.
An antibody may have a heavy chain constant region that does not bind Fcγ receptors, for example the constant region may comprise a Leu235Glu mutation (i.e., where the wild type leucine residue is mutated to a glutamic acid residue), which may be referred to as an “E” mutation, e.g., IgG4-E. Another optional mutation for a heavy chain constant region is Ser228Pro (“P” mutation), which increases stability by reducing Fab arm exchange. A heavy chain constant region may be an IgG4 comprising both the Leu235Glu mutation and the Ser228Pro mutation (EU numbering). This “IgG4-PE” heavy chain constant region is effector null. An alternative effector null human constant region is a disabled IgG1.
Antibody constant regions may be engineered to have an extended half life in vivo. Examples include “YTE” mutations and other half-life extending mutations (Dall'Acqua, Kiener & Wu, JBC 281(33):23514-23524 2006 and WO02/060919, incorporated by reference herein). The triple mutation YTE is a substitution of 3 amino acids in the IgG CH2 domain, these mutations providing tyrosine at residue 252, threonine at residue 254 and glutamic acid at residue 256, numbered according to the EU index of Kabat. As described in the referenced publications, the YTE modification increases the half-life of the antibody compared with the half-life of a corresponding antibody having a human CH2 wild type domain. To provide an increased duration of efficacy in vivo, antibodies of the present invention may include antibody constant regions (e.g., IgG constant regions, e.g., IgG CH2 domains) that have one or more mutations that increase the half life of the antibody compared with the corresponding wild type human constant region (e.g., IgG, e.g., IgG CH2 domain). Half-life may be determined by standard methods, such as are described in WO02/060919.
In some embodiments, a gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-rich (Gla) domain or other membrane-binding domain is included in the bispecific antibody (e.g., at the C terminus of the Fc), to promote localisation of the antibody to the phospholipid membrane at the platelet surface (via interaction between the Gla domain and the membrane), thereby increasing the local concentration of bispecific antibody where FIX and FX are naturally present in vivo. WO2018/145125 described a FVIII mimetic protein comprising a FIX/FX bispecific antibody and a membrane binding domain, e.g., a platelet binding domain such as a C1, C2 domain, a PH domain, a GLA domain or a membrane binding domain of a platelet membrane glycoprotein. As described therein, the membrane-binding domain may be linked to the C terminal of one or both of the heavy chain constant domains of the bispecific antibody. Bispecific antigen binding molecules of the present invention may optionally include the features and molecular formats described in WO2018/145125.
As discussed below, in bispecific IgG formats or other antibody formats where the different antigen binding arms are heterodimerised via constant regions, the constant regions may be engineered to promote heterodimer formation over homodimer formation and/or to facilitate purification of heterodimers from a mixture of different species.
The anti-FIXaxFX bispecific antibody emicizumab contains a heavy chain constant region which includes features designed to promote its assembly, purification and/or therapeutic performance. A bispecific antibody according to the present invention may comprise any one or more of these features. Thus it may comprise a human IgG4 (e.g., IgHG4*03) heavy chain constant region amino acid sequence comprising one or more of the following changes (EU numbering):
One each of the mutations Glu356Lys and Lys439Glu are included in the two oppositely paired heavy chain constant regions within the Fc of the heterodimeric bispecific, i.e., one heavy chain constant region comprises Glu356 and Lys439Glu and the other heavy chain constant region comprises Glu356Lys and Lys439 (see the discussion on charge pairing below).
A bispecific antibody according to the present invention may comprise an Fc region that has any one or more of the features that are present in the Fc region of emicizumab. It may comprise the Fc region of emicizumab. In one embodiment, the amino acid sequences of the heavy chain constant regions are the amino acid sequences of the emicizumab heavy chain constant regions.
Example amino acid sequences for heavy chain constant regions are shown in Table S-100.
Engineering of Bispecific Antibodies to Facilitate Heterodimer Formation and/or Purification
One of the difficulties with using bispecific antibodies in the clinic has historically been the difficulty of producing them in large quantities and at pharmaceutical grade purity. The “traditional” bispecific IgG format comprises two different pairs of heavy and light chains, thus 4 different polypeptide chains, which if expressed together could assemble into 10 different potential antibody molecules. The mixture of species will include homodimers (homodimeric anti-FIXa binding arms and homodimeric anti-FX binding arms), molecules in which one or both light chains are swapped between the H-L pairs, as well as the “correct” bispecific heterodimeric structure.
Alternative molecular formats have been developed which avoid this potential mis-pairing, and several examples are provided herein. These include F(ab′)2, e.g., prepared by chemical coupling or leucine zipper (fos:jun) assembly, diabodies, and scFv heterodimers. Nevertheless, it remains desirable to be able to use bispecific IgG, to reflect the native structure of antibodies in the bloodstream and to minimise immunogenicity of the administered therapeutic molecule. Additionally, a full length bispecific antibody may have a longer serum half-life.
“Knobs into holes” technology for making bispecific antibodies was described in [14] and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,168, both incorporated herein by reference. The principle is to engineer paired CH3 domains of heterodimeric heavy chains so that one CH3 domain contains a “knob” and the other CH3 domains contains a “hole” at a sterically opposite position. Knobs are created by replacing small amino acid side chain at the interface between the CH3 domains, while holes are created by replacing large side chains with smaller ones. The knob is designed to insert into the hole, to favour heterodimerisation of the different CH3 domains while destabilising homodimer formation. In in a mixture of antibody heavy and light chains that assemble to form a bispecific antibody, the proportion of IgG molecules having paired heterodimeric heavy chains is thus increased, raising yield and recovery of the active molecule
Mutations Y349C and/or T366W may be included to form “knobs” in an IgG CH3 domain. Mutations E356C, T366S, L368A and/or Y407V may be included to form “holes” in an IgG CH3 domain. Knobs and holes may be introduced into any human IgG CH3 domain, e.g., an IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 or IgG4 CH3 domain. A preferred example is IgG4. As noted, the IgG4 may include further modifications such as the “P” and/or “E” mutations. An example IgG4-PE sequence and other example constant regions including knobs-into-holes mutations are shown in Table S-100. The IgG4 type a (“ra”) sequence contains substitutions Y349C and T366W (“knobs”), and the IgG4 type b (“yb”) sequence contains substitutions E356C, T366S, L368A, and Y407V (“holes”). Both ra and yb also contain the “P” substitution at position 228 in the hinge (S228P), to stabilise the hinge region of the heavy chain. Both ra and yb also contain the “E” substitution in the CH2 region at position 235 (L235S), to abolish binding to FcγR. Thus the relevant sequence of the IgG4-PE heavy chain is ppcpPcpapefEggps (SEQ ID NO: 401). A bispecific antigen binding molecule of the present invention may contain an IgG4 PE human heavy chain constant region (e.g., SEQ ID NO: 143), optionally two such paired constant regions, optionally wherein one has “knobs” mutations and one has “holes” mutations, e.g., wherein one heavy chain constant region has a sequence SEQ ID NO: 144 (knobs) and one heavy chain constant region has a sequence SEQ ID NO: 145 (holes).
A further advance in bispecific IgG engineering was the idea of using a common light chain, as described in WO98/50431. Bispecific antibodies comprising two heavy-light chain pairs were described, in which the variable light chains of both heavy-light chain pairs had a common sequence. WO98/50431 described combining the common light chain approach with specific complementary interactions in the heavy chain heterodimerisation interface (such as knobs-into-holes) to promote heterodimer formation and hinder homodimer formation. In combination, these approaches enhance formation of the desired heterodimer relative to undesired heterodimers and homodimers.
While knobs-into-holes technology involves engineering amino acid side chains to create complementary molecular shapes at the interface of the paired CH3 domains in the bispecific heterodimer, another way to promote heterodimer formation and hinder homodimer formation is to engineer the amino acid side chains to have opposite charges. Association of CH3 domains in the heavy chain heterodimers is favoured by the pairing of oppositely charged residues, while paired positive charges or paired negative charges would make homodimer formation less energetically favourable. WO2006/106905 described a method for producing a heteromultimer composed of more than one type of polypeptide (such as a heterodimer of two different antibody heavy chains) comprising a substitution in an amino acid residue forming an interface between said polypeptides such that heteromultimer association will be regulated, the method comprising:
An example of this is to suppress association between heavy chains by introducing electrostatic repulsion at the interface of the heavy chain homodimers, for example by modifying amino acid residues that contact each other at the interface of the CH3 domains, including:
By modifying one or more of these pairs of residues to have like charges (both positive or both negative) in the CH3 domain of a first heavy chain, the pairing of heavy chain homodimers is inhibited by electrostatic repulsion. By engineering the same pairs or pairs of residues in the CH3 domain of a second (different) heavy chain to have an opposite charge compared with the corresponding residues in the first heavy chain, the heterodimeric pairing of the first and second heavy chains is promoted by electrostatic attraction.
Amino acids at the heavy chain constant region CH3 interface were modified to introduce charge pairs, the mutations being listed in Table 1 of WO2006/106905. It was reported that modifying the amino acids at heavy chain positions 356, 357, 370, 399, 409 and 439 to introduce charge-induced molecular repulsion at the CH3 interface had the effect of increasing efficiency of formation of the intended bispecific antibody. For example, one heavy chain constant region may be an IgG4 constant region containing mutation K439E (positively charged Lys replaced by negatively charged Glu) and the other heavy chain constant region may be an IgG4 constant region containing mutation E356K (negatively charged Glu replaced by positively charged Lys), using EU numbering. “Charge pairing” results from spatial proximity of residues 439 and 356 in an Fc region assembled from heterodimerisation of these two constant regions.
Where two different heavy chain constant regions are used, these may be connected to the two different VH domains of the antibody in either orientation. For example,
WO2006/106905 also exemplified bispecific IgG antibodies binding FX and FIXa in which the CH3 domains of IgG4 were engineered with knobs-into-holes mutations. Type a Type a (IgG4γa) was an IgG4 substituted at Y349C and T366W, and type b (IgG4γb) was an IgG4 substituted at E356C, T366S, L368A, and Y407V.
In another example, introduction of charge pairs in the antibody VH and VL domains was used to inhibit the formation of “incorrect” VH-VL pairs (pairing of VH from one antibody with VL of the other antibody). In one example, Q residues in the VH and VL were changed to K or R (positive), or to E or D (negative), to inhibit hydrogen bonding between the Q side chains and to introduce electrostatic repulsion.
Further examples of charge pairs were disclosed in WO2013/157954, which described a method for producing a heterodimeric CH3 domain-comprising molecule from a single cell, the molecule comprising two CH3 domains capable of forming an interface. The method comprised providing in the cell
Further methods of engineering electrostatic interactions in polypeptide chains to promote heterodimer formation over homodimer formation were described in WO2011/143545.
Another example of engineering at the CH3-CH3 interface is strand-exchange engineered domain (SEED) CH3 heterodimers. The CH3 domains are composed of alternating segments of human IgA and IgG CH3 sequences, which form pairs of complementary SEED heterodimers referred to as “SEED-bodies” [15; WO2007/110205].
Bispecifics have also been produced with heterodimerised heavy chains that are differentially modified in the CH3 domain to alter their affinity for binding to a purification reagent such as Protein A. WO2010/151792 described a heterodimeric bispecific antigen-binding protein comprising
The Fc region may thus comprise one or more mutations to promote differential purification of the active heterodimer from homodimer species. The CH3 of one heavy chain constant region may comprise the mutation His435Arg and/or Tyr436Phe (EU numbering) [16] while the CH3 of the other heavy chain constant region lacks said mutations. Emicizumab, for example, comprises an Fc region in which one CH3 comprises His435 and the other CH3 comprises His435Arg.
The bispecifics of the present invention may employ any of these techniques and molecular formats as desired.
Generating and Modifying Antibodies
Methods for identifying and preparing antibodies are well known. Isolated (optionally mutated) nucleic acid encoding antibodies (or heavy-light chain pairs or polypeptide binding arms thereof) described herein may be introduced into host cells, e.g., CHO cells as discussed. Host cells are then cultured under conditions for expression of the antibody (or of the antibody heavy and/or light chain variable domain, heavy-light chain pair, or polypeptide binding arm) to produce the desired antibody format. Some possible antibody formats are described herein, e.g., whole immunoglobulins, antigen-binding fragments, and other designs.
Variable domain amino acid sequence variants of any of the VH and VL domains or CDRs whose sequences are specifically disclosed herein and may be employed in accordance with the present invention, as discussed.
Alterations to nucleic acid encoding the antibody heavy and/or light chain variable domain may be performed, such as mutation of residues and generation of variants, as described herein. There are many reasons why it may be desirable to create variants, which include optimising the antibody sequence for large-scale manufacturing, facilitating purification, enhancing stability or improving suitability for inclusion in a desired pharmaceutical formulation. Protein engineering work can be performed at one or more target residues in the antibody sequence, e.g., to substituting one amino acid with an alternative amino acid (optionally, generating variants containing all naturally occurring amino acids at this position, with the possible exception of Cys and Met), and monitoring the impact on function and expression to determine the best substitution. It is in some instances undesirable to substitute a residue with Cys or Met, or to introduce these residues into a sequence, as to do so may generate difficulties in manufacturing—for instance through the formation of new intramolecular or intermolecular cysteine-cysteine bonds. Where a lead candidate has been selected and is being optimised for manufacturing and clinical development, it will generally be desirable to change its antigen-binding properties as little as possible, or at least to retain the affinity and potency of the parent molecule. However, variants may also be generated in order to modulate key antibody characteristics such as affinity, cross-reactivity or neutralising potency.
One or more amino acid mutations may optionally be made in framework regions of an antibody VH or VL domain disclosed herein. For example, one or more residues that differ from the corresponding human germline segment sequence may be reverted to germline. Human germline gene segment sequences corresponding to VH and VL domains of example antibodies herein are indicated in Table S-12.
In a bispecific antigen binding molecule, an antigen-binding site may comprise a set of H and/or L CDRs of any of the disclosed anti-FIX or anti-FX antibodies with one or more amino acid mutations within the disclosed set of H and/or L CDRs. The mutation may be an amino acid substitution, deletion or insertion. Thus for example there may be one or more amino acid substitutions within the disclosed set of H and/or L CDRs. For example, there may be up to 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 or 2 mutations e.g. substitutions, within the set of H and/or L CDRs. For example, there may be up to 6, 5, 4, 3 or 2 mutations, e.g. substitutions, in HCDR3 and/or there may be up to 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2 mutations, e.g. substitutions, in LCDR3.
An antibody may comprise a VH domain that has at least 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 98 or 99 amino acid sequence identity with a VH domain as shown in the Tables, and/or comprising a VL domain that has at least 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 98 or 99% amino acid sequence identity with a VL domain of any of those antibodies. Algorithms that can be used to calculate % identity of two amino acid sequences include e.g. BLAST, FASTA, or the Smith-Waterman algorithm, e.g. employing default parameters. Particular variants may include one or more amino acid sequence alterations (addition, deletion, substitution and/or insertion of an amino acid residue).
Alterations may be made in one or more framework regions and/or one or more CDRs. Variants are optionally provided by CDR mutagenesis. The alterations normally do not result in loss of function, so an antibody comprising a thus-altered amino acid sequence may retain an ability to bind its antigen. It may retain the same quantitative binding ability as an antibody in which the alteration is not made, e.g. as measured in an assay described herein. The antibody comprising a thus-altered amino acid sequence may have an improved ability to bind its antigen.
Alteration may comprise replacing one or more amino acid residue with a non-naturally occurring or non-standard amino acid, modifying one or more amino acid residue into a non-naturally occurring or non-standard form, or inserting one or more non-naturally occurring or non-standard amino acid into the sequence. Examples of numbers and locations of alterations in sequences of the invention are described elsewhere herein. Naturally occurring amino acids include the 20 “standard” L-amino acids identified as G, A, V, L, I, M, P, F, W, S, T, N, Q, Y, C, K, R, H, D, E by their standard single-letter codes. Non-standard amino acids include any other residue that may be incorporated into a polypeptide backbone or result from modification of an existing amino acid residue. Non-standard amino acids may be naturally occurring or non-naturally occurring.
The term “variant” as used herein refers to a peptide or nucleic acid that differs from a parent polypeptide or nucleic acid by one or more amino acid or nucleic acid deletions, substitutions or additions, yet retains one or more specific functions or biological activities of the parent molecule. Amino acid substitutions include alterations in which an amino acid is replaced with a different naturally-occurring amino acid residue. Such substitutions may be classified as “conservative”, in which case an amino acid residue contained in a polypeptide is replaced with another naturally occurring amino acid of similar character either in relation to polarity, side chain functionality or size. Such conservative substitutions are well known in the art. Substitutions encompassed by the present invention may also be “non-conservative”, in which an amino acid residue which is present in a peptide is substituted with an amino acid having different properties, such as naturally-occurring amino acid from a different group (e.g., substituting a charged or hydrophobic amino; acid with alanine), or alternatively, in which a naturally-occurring amino acid is substituted with a non-conventional amino acid. In some embodiments amino acid substitutions are conservative. Also encompassed within the term variant when used with reference to a polynucleotide or polypeptide, refers to a polynucleotide or polypeptide that can vary in primary, secondary, or tertiary structure, as compared to a reference polynucleotide or polypeptide, respectively (e.g., as compared to a wild-type polynucleotide or polypeptide).
In some aspects, one can use “synthetic variants”, “recombinant variants”, or “chemically modified” polynucleotide variants or polypeptide variants isolated or generated using methods well known in the art. “Modified variants” can include conservative or non-conservative amino acid changes, as described below. Polynucleotide changes can result in amino acid substitutions, additions, deletions, fusions and truncations in the polypeptide encoded by the reference sequence. Some aspects include insertion variants, deletion variants or substituted variants with substitutions of amino acids, including insertions and substitutions of amino acids and other molecules) that do not normally occur in the peptide sequence that is the basis of the variant, for example but not limited to insertion of ornithine which do not normally occur in human proteins. The term “conservative substitution,” when describing a polypeptide, refers to a change in the amino acid composition of the polypeptide that does not substantially alter the polypeptide's activity. For example, a conservative substitution refers to substituting an amino acid residue for a different amino acid residue that has similar chemical properties (e.g., acidic, basic, positively or negatively charged, polar or nonpolar, etc.). Conservative amino acid substitutions include replacement of a leucine with an isoleucine or valine, an aspartate with a glutamate, or a threonine with a serine. Conservative substitution tables providing functionally similar amino acids are well known in the art. For example, the following six groups each contain amino acids that are conservative substitutions for one another: 1) Alanine (A), Serine (S), Threonine (T); 2) Aspartic acid (D), Glutamic acid (E); 3) Asparagine (N), Glutamine (Q); 4) Arginine (R), Lysine (K); 5) Isoleucine (I), Leucine (L), Methionine (M), Valine (V); and 6) Phenylalanine (F), Tyrosine (Y), Tryptophan (VV). (See also Creighton, Proteins, W. H. Freeman and Company (1984), incorporated by reference in its entirety.) In some embodiments, individual substitutions, deletions or additions that alter, add or delete a single amino acid or a small percentage of amino acids can also be considered “conservative substitutions” if the change does not reduce the activity of the peptide. Insertions or deletions are typically in the range of about 1 to 5 amino acids. The choice of conservative amino acids may be selected based on the location of the amino acid to be substituted in the peptide, for example if the amino acid is on the exterior of the peptide and expose to solvents, or on the interior and not exposed to solvents.
One can select the amino acid that will substitute an existing amino acid based on the location of the existing amino acid, including its exposure to solvents (i.e., if the amino acid is exposed to solvents or is present on the outer surface of the peptide or polypeptide as compared to internally localized amino acids not exposed to solvents). Selection of such conservative amino acid substitutions are well known in the art, for example as disclosed in Dordo et al, J. Mol Biol, 1999, 217, 721-739 and Taylor et al, J. Theor. Biol. 119(1986); 205-218 and S. French and B. Robson, J. Mol. Evol. 19(1983)171. Accordingly, one can select conservative amino acid substitutions suitable for amino acids on the exterior of a protein or peptide (i.e. amino acids exposed to a solvent), for example, but not limited to, the following substitutions can be used: substitution of Y with F, T with S or K, P with A, E with D or Q, N with D or G, R with K, G with N or A, T with S or K, D with N or E, I with L or V, F with Y, S with T or A, R with K, G with N or A, K with R, A with S, K or P.
In alternative embodiments, one can also select conservative amino acid substitutions encompassed suitable for amino acids on the interior of a protein or peptide, for example one can use suitable conservative substitutions for amino acids is on the interior of a protein or peptide (i.e. the amino acids are not exposed to a solvent), for example but not limited to, one can use the following conservative substitutions: where Y is substituted with F, T with A or S, I with L or V, W with Y, M with L, N with D, G with A, T with A or S, D with N, I with L or V, F with Y or L, S with A or T and A with S, G, T or V. In some embodiments, non-conservative amino acid substitutions are also encompassed within the term of variants.
The invention includes methods of producing polypeptide binding arms containing VH and/or VL domain variants of the antibody VH and/or VL domains shown in the Tables herein. FIXa binding polypeptide arms comprising variant VH domains may be produced by a method comprising
The VH domain may be any VH domain whose sequence is shown in Table S-9A or
Desired characteristics of FIXa-binding polypeptide arms, and of bispecific anti-FIXa/FX binding molecules comprising them, are detailed elsewhere herein. For example, the method may comprise confirming that the VH domain or VH/VL domain combination binds FIXa as described herein.
When VL domains are included in the method, the VL domain may be the N0128L VL domain or may be a variant provided by way of addition, deletion, substitution or insertion of one or more amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the N0128L VL domain, or may be a VL domain comprising the light chain complementarity determining regions of the N0128L VL domain. The VL domain may be the 0325L VL domain.
Methods of generating variant antibodies may optionally comprise producing copies of the antibody or VH/VL domain combination. Methods may further comprise producing a bispecific antibody comprising the FIXa binding polypeptide arm, for example by expression of encoding nucleic acid. Suitable methods of expression, including recombinant expression in host cells, are set out in detail herein.
Encoding Nucleic Acids and Methods of Expression
Isolated nucleic acid may be provided, encoding bispecific antigen binding molecules, e.g., bispecific antibodies, according to the present invention. Nucleic acid may be DNA and/or RNA. Genomic DNA, cDNA, mRNA or other RNA, of synthetic origin, or any combination thereof can encode an antibody.
The present invention provides constructs in the form of plasmids, vectors, transcription or expression cassettes which comprise at least one polynucleotide as above. Exemplary nucleotide sequences are included in the Tables. Reference to a nucleotide sequence as set out herein encompasses a DNA molecule with the specified sequence, and encompasses a RNA molecule with the specified sequence in which U is substituted for T, unless context requires otherwise.
The present invention also provides a recombinant host cell that comprises one or more nucleic acids encoding the antigen binding molecule. Methods of producing the encoded molecule may comprise expression from the nucleic acid, e.g., by culturing recombinant host cells containing the nucleic acid. The bispecific molecule may thus be obtained, and may be isolated and/or purified using any suitable technique, then used as appropriate. A method of production may comprise formulating the product into a composition including at least one additional component, such as a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
Systems for cloning and expression of a polypeptide in a variety of different host cells are well known. Suitable host cells include bacteria, mammalian cells, plant cells, filamentous fungi, yeast and baculovirus systems and transgenic plants and animals.
The expression of antibodies and antibody fragments in prokaryotic cells is well established in the art. A common bacterial host is E. coli. Expression in eukaryotic cells in culture is also available to those skilled in the art as an option for production. Mammalian cell lines available in the art for expression of a heterologous polypeptide include Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, HeLa cells, baby hamster kidney cells, NSO mouse melanoma cells, YB2/0 rat myeloma cells, human embryonic kidney cells, human embryonic retina cells and many others.
Vectors may contain appropriate regulatory sequences, including promoter sequences, terminator sequences, polyadenylation sequences, enhancer sequences, marker genes and other sequences as appropriate. Nucleic acid encoding an antibody can be introduced into a host cell. Nucleic acid can be introduced to eukaryotic cells by various methods, including calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-Dextran, electroporation, liposome-mediated transfection and transduction using retrovirus or other virus, e.g. vaccinia or, for insect cells, baculovirus. Introducing nucleic acid in the host cell, in particular a eukaryotic cell may use a viral or a plasmid based system. The plasmid system may be maintained episomally or may be incorporated into the host cell or into an artificial chromosome. Incorporation may be either by random or targeted integration of one or more copies at single or multiple loci. For bacterial cells, suitable techniques include calcium chloride transformation, electroporation and transfection using bacteriophage. The introduction may be followed by expressing the nucleic acid, e.g., by culturing host cells under conditions for expression of the gene, then optionally isolating or purifying the antibody.
Nucleic acid of the invention may be integrated into the genome (e.g. chromosome) of the host cell. Integration may be promoted by inclusion of sequences that promote recombination with the genome, in accordance with standard techniques. Nucleic acid encoding a bispecific may be integrated into genomic DNA of a host (e.g., CHO) cell, e.g., into chromosomal DNA, and the resulting recombinant cell may be cultured to express the bispecific. A cell line development process may comprise introducing nucleic acid encoding the bispecific into multiple host cells, and selecting a cell line which expresses a desired level of bispecific antibody (e.g., at least 95% heterodimer, with no more than 5% homodimeric contaminants) at the desired yield (e.g., at least 0.5 g/L or at least 1 g/L). Preferably the cell line will retain stable expression over a number of generations in cell culture, and thus it may maintain these levels of production over a at least 60 generations for example.
The present invention also provides a method that comprises using nucleic acid described herein in an expression system in order to express the bispecific antigen binding molecule. Desirably, the antigen-binding molecules are expressed at a yield of at least 0.5 g/L in the cell supernatant after initial fermentation, preferably at a yield of >2 g/L. Solubility should be >10 mg/ml, preferably >50 mg/ml, without significant aggregation or degradation of the molecules.
To provide medicines suitable for global treatment, antibodies can be produced on a large scale, for instance in cell culture volumes of at least 100 litres or at least 200 litres, e.g., between 100-250 litres. Batch culture, particularly fed-batch culture, is now commonly used for production of biotherapeutics for clinical and commercial use, and such methods may suitably be used in the present invention to generate the antibodies, followed by purification and formulation steps as noted herein. Bioreactors may be metal (e.g., stainless steel) vessels or may be single-use bioreactors.
Formulation and Administration
The bispecific antigen-binding molecules (“bispecifics”) according to the present invention, and their encoding nucleic acid molecules, will usually be provided in isolated form. The bispecifics VH and/or VL domains, and nucleic acids may be provided purified from their natural environment or their production environment. Isolated antigen-binding molecules and isolated nucleic acid will be free or substantially free of material with which they are naturally associated, such as other polypeptides or nucleic acids with which they are found in vivo, or the environment in which they are prepared (e.g., cell culture) when such preparation is by recombinant DNA technology in vitro. Optionally an isolated antigen-binding molecule or nucleic acid (1) is free of at least some other proteins with which it would normally be found, (2) is essentially free of other proteins from the same source, e.g., from the same species, (3) is expressed by a cell from a different species, (4) has been separated from at least about 50 percent of polynucleotides, lipids, carbohydrates, or other materials with which it is associated in nature, (5) is operably associated (by covalent or noncovalent interaction) with a polypeptide with which it is not associated in nature, or (6) does not occur in nature.
Bispecific antibody may be purified (e.g., from cell culture supernatant) by protein A chromatography and/or ion exchange chromatography. The bispecific antibody may be produced by a method comprising
Bispecifics or their encoding nucleic acids may be formulated with diluents or adjuvants and still for practical purposes be isolated—for example they may be mixed with carriers if used to coat microtitre plates for use in immunoassays, and may be mixed with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers or diluents when used in therapy. As described elsewhere herein, other active ingredients may also be included in therapeutic preparations. The antigen binding molecules may be glycosylated, either naturally in vivo or by systems of heterologous eukaryotic cells such as CHO cells, or they may be (for example if produced by expression in a prokaryotic cell) unglycosylated. The invention encompasses antibodies having a modified glycosylation pattern.
Typically, an isolated product constitutes at least about 5%, at least about 10%, at least about 25%, or at least about 50% of a given sample. A bispecific may be substantially free from proteins or polypeptides or other contaminants that are found in its natural or production environment that would interfere with its therapeutic, diagnostic, prophylactic, research or other use.
As discussed elsewhere herein, expression of antibody heavy and light chains for a bispecific antibody may generate unwanted homodimeric species (anti-FIX and anti-FX antibodies) in addition to the active heterodimeric bispecific antibody. Preferably a bispecific is provided in a composition in which the heterodimeric bispecific antibody is represents at least 95% of the total antibody, with homodimeric antibody contaminants being present at 5% or less. The composition may comprise at least 98% or at least 99% heterodimeric bispecific, with homodimeric contaminants representing 0-2% or 0-1% respectively.
The invention provides therapeutic compositions comprising the bispecifics described herein. Therapeutic compositions comprising nucleic acid encoding such bispecifics are also provided. Encoding nucleic acids are described in more detail elsewhere herein and include DNA and RNA, e.g., mRNA. In therapeutic methods described herein, use of nucleic acid encoding the bispecific, and/or of cells containing such nucleic acid, may be used as alternatives (or in addition) to compositions comprising the bispecific molecule itself. Cells containing nucleic acid encoding the bispecific, optionally wherein the nucleic acid is stably integrated into the genome, thus represent medicaments for therapeutic use in a patient. Nucleic acid encoding the bispecific may be introduced into human cells derived from the intended patient and modified ex vivo. Administration of cells containing the encoding nucleic acid to the patient provides a reservoir of cells capable of expressing the bispecific, which may provide therapeutic benefit over a longer term compared with administration of isolated nucleic acid or the isolated bispecific molecule. Nucleic acid encoding the bispecific may be provided for use in gene therapy, comprising introducing the encoding nucleic acid into cells of the patient in vivo, so that the nucleic acid is expressed in the patient's cells and provides a therapeutic effect such as compensating for hereditary factor VIII deficiency.
Compositions may contain suitable carriers, excipients, and other agents that are incorporated into formulations to provide improved transfer, delivery, tolerance, and the like. A multitude of appropriate formulations can be found in the formulary known to all pharmaceutical chemists: Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mack Publishing Company, Easton, Pa. These formulations include, for example, powders, pastes, ointments, jellies, waxes, oils, lipids, lipid (cationic or anionic) containing vesicles (such as LIPOFECTINT™), DNA conjugates, anhydrous absorption pastes, oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, emulsions carbowax (polyethylene glycols of various molecular weights), semi-solid gels, and semi-solid mixtures containing carbowax. See also Powell et al. “Compendium of excipients for parenteral formulations” PDA (1998) J Pharm Sci Technol 52:238-311. Compositions may comprise the antibody or nucleic acid in combination with medical injection buffer.
Bispecifics, or their encoding nucleic acids, may be formulated for the desired route of administration to a patient, e.g., in liquid (optionally aqueous solution) for injection. An example buffer in which to formulate the bispecific for injection is an aqueous solution of 20 mM sodium acetate, 150 mM arginine hydrochloride, 0.05% w/v polysorbate 80 pH 5.2.
Various delivery systems are known and can be used to administer the pharmaceutical composition of the invention. Methods of introduction include, but are not limited to, intradermal, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intravenous, subcutaneous, intranasal, epidural, and oral routes. The composition may be administered by any convenient route, for example by infusion or bolus injection, by absorption through epithelial or mucocutaneous linings (e.g., oral mucosa, rectal and intestinal mucosa, etc.) and may be administered together with other biologically active agents. Administration can be systemic or local. The antigen-binding molecules are preferably administered by subcutaneous injection.
The pharmaceutical composition can be also delivered in a vesicle, in particular a liposome (see Langer (1990) Science 249:1527-1533; Treat et al. (1989) in Liposomes in the Therapy of Infectious Disease and Cancer, Lopez Berestein and Fidler (eds.), Liss, New York, pp. 353-365; Lopez-Berestein, ibid., pp. 317-327; see generally ibid.).
In certain situations, the pharmaceutical composition can be delivered in a controlled release system. In one embodiment, a pump may be used (see Langer, supra; Sefton (1987) CRC Crit. Ref. Biomed. Eng. 14:201). In another embodiment, polymeric materials can be used; see, Medical Applications of Controlled Release, Langer and Wise (eds.), CRC Pres., Boca Raton, Fla. (1974). In yet another embodiment, a controlled release system can be placed in proximity of the composition's target, thus requiring only a fraction of the systemic dose (see, e.g., Goodson, in Medical Applications of Controlled Release, supra, vol. 2, pp. 115-138, 1984).
The injectable preparations may include dosage forms for intravenous, subcutaneous, intracutaneous and intramuscular injections, drip infusions, etc. These injectable preparations may be prepared by methods publicly known. For example, the injectable preparations may be prepared, e.g., by dissolving, suspending or emulsifying the antibody or its salt described above in a sterile aqueous medium or an oily medium conventionally used for injections. As the aqueous medium for injections, there are, for example, physiological saline, an isotonic solution containing glucose and other auxiliary agents, etc., which may be used in combination with an appropriate solubilizing agent such as an alcohol (e.g., ethanol), a polyalcohol (e.g., propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol), a nonionic surfactant [e.g., polysorbate 80, HCO-50 (polyoxyethylene (50 mol) adduct of hydrogenated castor oil)], etc. As the oily medium, there are employed, e.g., sesame oil, soybean oil, etc., which may be used in combination with a solubilizing agent such as benzyl benzoate, benzyl alcohol, etc. The injection thus prepared can be filled in an appropriate ampoule. A pharmaceutical composition of the present invention can be delivered subcutaneously or intravenously with a standard needle and syringe. It is envisaged that treatment will not be restricted to use in the clinic. Therefore, subcutaneous injection using a needle-free device is also advantageous. With respect to subcutaneous delivery, a pen delivery device readily has applications in delivering a pharmaceutical composition of the present invention. Such a pen delivery device can be reusable or disposable. A reusable pen delivery device generally utilizes a replaceable cartridge that contains a pharmaceutical composition. Once all of the pharmaceutical composition within the cartridge has been administered and the cartridge is empty, the empty cartridge can readily be discarded and replaced with a new cartridge that contains the pharmaceutical composition. The pen delivery device can then be reused. In a disposable pen delivery device, there is no replaceable cartridge. Rather, the disposable pen delivery device comes prefilled with the pharmaceutical composition held in a reservoir within the device. Once the reservoir is emptied of the pharmaceutical composition, the entire device is discarded. Numerous reusable pen and autoinjector delivery devices have applications in the subcutaneous delivery of a pharmaceutical composition of the present invention. Examples include, but certainly are not limited to AUTOPEN™ (Owen Mumford, Inc., Woodstock, UK), DISETRONIC™ pen (Disetronic Medical Systems, Burghdorf, Switzerland), HUMALOG MIX 75/25™ pen, HUMALOG™ pen, HUMALIN 70/30™ pen (Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis, Ind.), NOVOPENTMI, II and III (Novo Nordisk, Copenhagen, Denmark), NOVOPEN JUNIOR™ (Novo Nordisk, Copenhagen, Denmark), BD™ pen (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, N.J.), OPTIPENT™, OPTIPEN PRO™, OPTIPEN STARLET™, and OPTICLIKT™ (Sanofi-Aventis, Frankfurt, Germany), to name only a few. Examples of disposable pen delivery devices having applications in subcutaneous delivery of a pharmaceutical composition of the present invention include, but certainly are not limited to the SOLOSTAR™ pen (Sanofi-Aventis), the FLEXPEN™ (Novo Nordisk), and the KWIKPEN™ (Eli Lilly).
Advantageously, the pharmaceutical compositions for oral or parenteral use described above are prepared into dosage forms in a unit dose suited to fit a dose of the active ingredients. Such dosage forms in a unit dose include, for example, tablets, pills, capsules, injections (ampoules), suppositories, etc. The amount of the aforesaid antibody contained is generally about 5 to about 500 mg per dosage form in a unit dose; especially in the form of injection, the aforesaid antibody may be contained in about 5 to about 100 mg and in about 10 to about 250 mg for the other dosage forms.
The bispecific, nucleic acid, or composition comprising it, may be contained in a medical container such as a phial, syringe, IV container or an injection device. In an example, the bispecific, nucleic acid or composition is in vitro, and may be in a sterile container. In an example, a kit is provided comprising the bispecific, packaging and instructions for use in a therapeutic method as described herein.
One aspect of the invention is a composition comprising a bispecific or nucleic acid of the invention and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients, examples of which are listed above. “Pharmaceutically acceptable” refers to approved or approvable by a regulatory agency of the USA Federal or a state government or listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia or other generally recognized pharmacopeia for use in animals, including humans. A pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, excipient, or adjuvant can be administered to a patient, together with a bispecific agent, e.g., any antibody or polypeptide molecule described herein, and does not destroy the pharmacological activity thereof and is nontoxic when administered in doses sufficient to deliver a therapeutic amount of the agent.
In some embodiments, the bispecific will be the sole active ingredient in a composition according to the present invention. Thus, a composition may consist of the antibody or it may consist of the bispecific with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients. However, compositions according to the present invention optionally include one or more additional active ingredients.
Where required (for example, for management of acute bleeds), the bispecific may be combined with one or more other treatments for haemophilia, including recombinant factor VIII (e.g., turoctocog alfa) or recombinant factor VIIa (e.g., eptacog alfa). The functional properties and safety profile of bispecifics described herein are believed to be suitable for their safe combination with such further therapeutic agents. The bispecific may be combined with recombinant factor Va (FVa), for example an activated variant FVa as described in U.S. Ser. No. 10/407,488.
Other therapeutic agents that it may be desirable to administer with bispecific or nucleic acids according to the present invention include analgaesic agents. Any such agent or combination of agents may be administered in combination with, or provided in compositions with antibodies or nucleic acids according to the present invention, whether as a combined or separate preparation. The bispecific or nucleic acid according to the present invention may be administered separately and sequentially, or concurrently and optionally as a combined preparation, with another therapeutic agent or agents such as those mentioned.
Multiple compositions can be administered separately or simultaneously. Separate administration refers to the two compositions being administered at different times, e.g. at least 10, 20, 30, or 10-60 minutes apart, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 hours apart. One can also administer compositions at 24 hours apart, or even longer apart. Alternatively, two or more compositions can be administered simultaneously, e.g. less than 10 or less than 5 minutes apart. Compositions administered simultaneously can, in some aspects, be administered as a mixture, with or without similar or different time release mechanism for each of the components.
Bispecifics, and their encoding nucleic acids, can be used as therapeutic agents. Patients herein are generally mammals, typically humans. A bispecific or nucleic acid may be administered to a mammal, e.g., by any route of administration mentioned herein.
Administration is normally in a “therapeutically effective amount”, this being an amount that produces the desired effect for which it is administered, sufficient to show benefit to a patient. The exact amount will depend on the purpose of the treatment, and will be ascertainable by one skilled in the art using known techniques (see, for example, Lloyd (1999) The Art, Science and Technology of Pharmaceutical Compounding). Prescription of treatment, e.g. decisions on dosage etc, is within the responsibility of general practitioners and other medical doctors and may depend on the severity of the symptoms and/or progression of a disease being treated. A therapeutically effective amount or suitable dose of bispecific or nucleic acid can be determined by comparing its in vitro activity and in vivo activity in an animal model. Methods for extrapolation of effective dosages in mice and other test animals to humans are known.
Bispecifics may be administered in an amount in one of the following ranges per dose:
The dose of antigen-binding molecule administered may be up to 1 mg/kg. It may be formulated at lower strength for paediatric populations, for example 30-150 mg/mL. The bispecific molecule may be packaged in smaller quantities for a paediatric population, e.g., it may be provided in phials of 25-75 mg, e.g., 30 or 60 mg.
In methods of treatment described herein, one or more doses may be administered. In some cases, a single dose may be effective to achieve a long-term benefit. Thus, the method may comprise administering a single dose of the bispecific, its encoding nucleic acid, or the composition. Alternatively, multiple doses may be administered, usually sequentially and separated by a period of days, weeks or months. Optionally, the bispecific may be administered to a patient once a month, or less frequently, e.g., every two months or every three months.
As used herein, the terms “treat,” “treatment,” “treating,” or “amelioration” refer to therapeutic treatments, wherein the object is to reverse, alleviate, ameliorate, inhibit, slow down or stop the progression or severity of a condition associated with a disease or disorder. The term “treating” includes reducing or alleviating at least one adverse effect or symptom of a condition, disease or disorder. Treatment is generally “effective” if one or more symptoms or clinical markers are reduced. Alternatively, treatment is “effective” if the progression of a disease is reduced or halted. That is, “treatment” includes not just the improvement of symptoms or markers, but also a cessation of, or at least slowing of, progress or worsening of symptoms compared to what would be expected in the absence of treatment. Beneficial or desired clinical results include, but are not limited to, alleviation of one or more symptom(s), diminishment of extent of disease, stabilised (i.e., not worsening) state of disease, delay or slowing of disease progression, amelioration or palliation of the disease state, remission (whether partial or total), and/or decreased mortality, whether detectable or undetectable. The term “treatment” of a disease also includes providing relief from the symptoms or side-effects of the disease (including palliative treatment). For treatment to be effective a complete cure is not contemplated. The method can in certain aspects include cure as well. In the context of the invention, treatment may be preventative treatment.
Long half-life is a desirable feature in the bispecifics of the present invention. Extended half-life translates to less frequent administration, with fewer injections being required to maintain a therapeutically effective concentration of the molecule in the bloodstream. The in vivo half life of antigen-binding molecules of the present invention in humans may be 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21 days, or longer. The in vivo half life of antigen-binding molecules in non-human primates such as cynomolgus monkeys may be 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21 days, or longer.
Maintenance of 1% of normal FVIII activity is considered to be a minimum for prophylactic use in haemophilia [1]. In a paper reporting a human clinical trial with ACE910 (emicizumab), in silico population pharmacokinetic modelling and simulations suggested that a weekly dose of 1 mg/kg resulted in a plasma concentration of at least about 300 nM (45 μg/ml), producing a continuous haemostatic effect of at least 10% of normal FVIII activity [4]. This dose was also reported to be well tolerated in patients.
Based on that data, a plasma concentration range of approximately 30 nM (˜4.5 μg/ml) to 300 nM (˜45 μg/ml) would correspond to effective FVIII activity of 1-10%, assuming a linear relationship between antibody concentration and FVIII activity and comparable antibody activity.
Bispecifics according to the present invention exhibit exceptionally high activity at concentrations in the range of 30 nM (˜4.5 μg/ml) to 300 nM (˜45 μg/ml), maintaining strong thrombin generation activity even at relatively low doses. As evidenced by its high potency (see, e.g., Example 14), a bispecific antibody according to the present invention may exhibit therapeutic efficacy at a lower plasma concentration than emicizumab. Therefore it may provide greater therapeutic benefit at an equivalent dose, and it may provide equivalent therapeutic benefit at a lower dose, compared with emicizumab. Patients can thus benefit from smaller and/or less frequent injections, and healthcare providers can benefit from lower associated costs.
The US FDA currently (in guidance issued October 2018) recommends that emicizumab be administered at a loading dose of 3 mg/kg by subcutaneous injection once weekly for the first 4 weeks, followed by a maintenance dose of:
Antigen-binding molecules according to the present invention may be provided for administration at regular intervals of one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, or one month.
In a preferred embodiment, the bispecific is administered by subcutaneous injection.
Therapeutic Use
The bispecific antigen-binding molecules of the present invention may be used in a method of treatment of the human or animal body by therapy. Therapeutic indications for the molecules include:
Patients are typically human patients. The patient may be a human diagnosed with haemophilia A or hereditary factor VIII deficiency, or a human who has lower (or absent) factor VIII expression or activity compared with wild type. The patient may be a paediatric patient (e.g., from 2 to less than 18 years of age) or may be an adult. The patient may be a human male. The patient may or may not have inhibitors to factor VIII.
A bispecific molecule of the present invention, or a composition comprising such a bispecific molecule or its encoding nucleic acid, may be used or provided for use in any such method. Use of the bispecific molecule, or of a composition comprising it or its encoding nucleic acid, for the manufacture of a medicament for use in any such method is also envisaged. The method typically comprises administering the antibody or composition to a mammal, e.g., a human patient. Suitable formulations and methods of administration are described elsewhere herein.
There is a presently unmet need for treatment of haemophilia A patients who develop inhibitory allo-antibodies to FVIII. Antigen-binding molecules of the present invention are suitable for use in such patients. Accordingly, in some aspects, a patient treated with a bispecific antigen binding molecule according to the present invention may be resistant to treatment with FVIII owing to the presence of inhibitory antibodies in the bloodstream. Resistance to treatment can be manifested in a reduction of efficacy of the therapy. Such resistance may be detected in in vitro assays (e.g. aPTT assay) with a blood plasma sample from the patient, wherein the therapeutic molecule does not reduce coagulation time to the same level as in an assay with control FVIII-deficient plasma (the latter lacking inhibitory antibodies to the therapeutic molecule).
Patients receiving other treatments for haemophilia, such as bispecific antibodies to FIXa and FX, may also develop inhibitory antibodies to those therapeutic antibodies. As noted, use of human antibodies such as those of the present invention should minimise the risk of this, but inhibitory antibodies may nevertheless be generated in some patients who receive antigen binding molecules of the present invention or other bispecific antigen binding molecules to FIXa and FX. A patient treated with a bispecific antigen binding molecule according to the present invention may be resistant to treatment to a different bispecific antigen binding molecule for FIXa and FX owing to the presence of inhibitory antibodies in the bloodstream. The patient may be resistant to treatment with emicizumab.
Since inhibitory antibodies may be generated through long term therapeutic administration of a drug product, it may be beneficial for patients to alternate or cycle between multiple different treatments, to reduce the risk of their developing inhibitory antibodies. Thus, a bispecific antigen binding molecule of the present invention may be administered to a patient who has previously received treatment with a different FVIIIa-activity replacing polypeptide drug, e.g., a bispecific antigen binding molecule for FIXa and FX, optionally emicizumab, even where the patient has not (yet) developed inhibitory antibodies. Similarly, emicizumab or other bispecific antigen binding molecules for FIXa and FX, and other FVIIIa-activity replacing polypeptide drugs generally, may be administered to patients who were previously treated with a bispecific antigen binding molecule of the present invention. Regiments of treatment may comprise administration of a first FVIII-activity replacing polypeptide drug for a first period (e.g., between one and six months, or between six months and one year), followed by switching to a different FVIII-activity replacing polypeptide drug for a second period (e.g. between one and six months, or between six months and one year), followed by switching back to the first drug or switching to yet another FVIII-activity replacing polypeptide drug. The different amino acid sequences of the different drug treatments should ensure that a patient at risk of developing inhibitory antibodies to one drug is no longer at risk of developing inhibitory antibodies to the first drug (e.g., emicizumab) following switching to a different drug (e.g., a molecule of the present invention). The cycling period may be varied or shortened, according to convenience and the preferences of the patient and doctor.
It will be recognised that administration of the encoding nucleic acid represents an alternative therapy, and may be performed in place of administering the polypeptide drug directly.
As noted, the bispecific antigen-binding molecules of the present invention are believed to have a strong safety profile, associated with no (or minimal) incidents of hypersensitivity reactions, development of allo-antibodies, organ toxicity or other adverse events leading to discontinuation of the therapy.
Clauses
The following numbered clauses represent embodiments of the invention and are part of the description.
1. Bispecific antibody that binds FIXa and FX and catalyses FIXa-mediated activation of FX, wherein the antibody comprises two immunoglobulin heavy-light chain pairs, wherein
Arg, Val or Trp.
56. Bispecific antibody according to any preceding clause, wherein the first VL domain and the second VL domain each have at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99 amino acid sequence identity with 0128L SEQ ID NO: 10.
57. Bispecific antibody according to any preceding clause, wherein the first VL domain and the second VL domain each comprise a set of 0128L CDRs comprising 0128L LCDR1 SEQ ID NO: 6, 0128L LCDR2 SEQ ID NO: 7 and 0128L LCDR3 SEQ ID NO: 8.
58. Bispecific antibody according to any preceding clause, wherein the first VL domain and the second VL domain are identical in amino acid sequence.
59. Bispecific antibody according to clause 58, wherein the first VL domain and the second VL domain comprise the 0325L amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 416.
60. Bispecific antibody according to clause 58 or clause 59, wherein the first VL domain and the second VL domain comprise the 0128L amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 10.
61. Bispecific antibody according to any preceding clause, wherein each heavy-light chain pair further comprises a CL constant domain paired with a CH1 domain.
62. Bispecific antibody according to any preceding clause, wherein the heavy-light chain pairs comprise a common light chain.
63. Bispecific antibody according to clause 62, wherein the common light chain comprises the CL amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 146 of the 0128L light chain.
64. Bispecific antibody according to clause 63, wherein the common light chain is the 0325L light chain SEQ ID NO: 414.
65. Bispecific antibody according to clause 63, wherein the common light chain is the 0128L light chain SEQ ID NO: 405.
66. Bispecific antibody according to any preceding clause, wherein the heavy chain of each heavy-light chain comprises a heavy chain constant region and wherein the first and second heavy-light chain pairs associate to form tetrameric immunoglobulin through dimerisation of the heavy chain constant regions.
67. Bispecific antibody according to clause 66, wherein the heavy chain constant region of the first heavy-light chain pair comprises a different amino acid sequence from the heavy chain constant region of the second heavy-light chain pair, wherein the different amino acid sequences are engineered to promote heterodimerisation of the heavy chain constant regions.
68. Bispecific antibody according to clause 67, wherein the heavy chain constant regions comprise knobs-into-holes mutations or charge pair mutations.
69. Bispecific antibody according to clause 67, wherein the heavy chain constant region of one (e.g., the first) heavy-light chain pair is a human IgG4 constant region comprising substitution K439E and wherein the heavy chain constant region of the other (e.g., the second) heavy-light chain pair is an IgG4 region comprising substitution E356K, wherein constant region numbering is according to the EU numbering system.
70. Bispecific antibody according to any of clauses 66 to 69, wherein the heavy chain constant region of one or both heavy-light chain pairs is a human IgG4 constant region comprising substitution S228P, wherein constant region numbering is according to the EU numbering system.
71. Bispecific antibody according to any of clauses 66 to 70, wherein the heavy chain constant region of one (e.g., the first) heavy-light chain pair comprises SEQ ID NO: 409 and the heavy chain constant region of the other (e.g., the second) heavy-light chain pair comprises SEQ ID NO: 410.
72. Bispecific antibody according to any of clauses 66 to 71, comprising
Equivalents: Those skilled in the art will recognise, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be within the scope of protection of the appended claims.
Bispecific IgG antibodies comprising Fv binding sites for human FIXa and human FX were generated as described in PCT/EP2018/066836 filed on 22 Jun. 2018 entitled “Bispecific antibodies for factor IX and factor X” (WO2018/234575). As described therein, an extensive campaign of immunisation and screening led to the identification of an anti-FIXa antibody NINA-0128 which, when paired in IgG format with any of a selection of different anti-FX binding Fvs, showed outstanding activity in functional screens including a tenase assay and aPTT assay. NINA-0128 comprises VH domain N0128H and VL domain 0128L. A number of variants of the N0128H VH domain were generated and tested, resulting in further improvements in function in a bispecific format, including for example the N0436H VH domain.
Building on that work, bispecific IgG were designed with the VL domain of NINA-0128 as a common light chain. A panel of anti-FX antibodies were generated in vivo in a transgenic mouse comprising human immunoglobulin genes. These were co-expressed with NINA-0128 as the anti-FIX binding arm, using the 0128L VL domain in a common light chain including a human constant region. One VH domain, T0200, showed outstanding activity in the bispecific format and was selected for further development. Structurally related antibodies obtained from the same immunised animal as the T0200H clone, included further anti-FX VH domains that performed even better than the T0200H VH domain in bispecific IgG4 with an anti-FIX VH domain and the 0128L common light chain.
Meanwhile, further anti-FIXa antibody variants were generated, introducing mutations in the VH domain while retaining the common 0128L VL domain. The anti-FIXa N0436H VH domain sequence was optimised by substituting all possible amino acids at each position in CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3, expressing the resulting VH domain variants in the context of bispecific antibodies comprising the common light chain, evaluating the variant bispecific antibodies in a range of functional assays, identifying mutations associated with increased functional activity, and generating further variants including combinations of mutations associated with increased functional activity.
Improved T0200H VH domain variants were combined with improved N0436H VH domain variants, each paired with the N0128L common light chain, and repeated rounds of optimisation, screening and selection were conducted.
Very strong FVIII mimetic activity was achieved with common light chain bispecific antibodies including the optimised sequences. The following bispecific antibodies are examples of strong performers, as indicated by functional characterisation in a range of disease-relevant assays. Nomenclature of the bispecific antibodies which have a common light chain is IXAX-nnnn.tttt.llll, wherein nnnn is a 4 digit numerical identifier of the anti-FIX VH domain, tttt is a 4 digit identifier of the anti-FX VH domain, and 1111 is a 4 digit numerical identifier of the common VL domain:
Other high performing anti-FX VH domains which combine well with the above and other anti-FIX VH domains in bispecific antibodies were those of the T0201H lineage and variants thereof such as those listed in
For example,
The bispecific antibodies described here represent candidate pharmaceutical drug molecules for therapeutic use as described herein. They may offer a vital healthcare option for patients by providing an alternative to existing treatments such as emicizumab, especially in patients for whom such existing treatments are no longer effective due to the presence of anti-drug antibodies.
In these Examples, the reference antibody AbE or Antibody E is a bispecific antibody having the heavy and light chain amino acid sequences of emicizumab [3].
Transgenic mice expressing a common light chain comprising the 0128L VL domain of were immunised with human factor X. Antigen specific B cells were single cell sorted by flow cytometry and the VH and VL sequences were retrieved by next generation sequencing (NGS). 200 anti-FX heavy chains were identified by NGS analysis of the single cell sorted lymphocytes. Further bulk NGS analysis was performed on bone marrow and lymph node tissues harvested from the same transgenic animals.
Each anti-FX heavy chain was expressed in HEK293 cells as bispecific antibody comprising the anti-FIX N0128H heavy chain and the 0128L common light chain. The bispecific antibodies were purified by Protein A substantially as described in PCT/EP2018/066836 filed on 22 Jun. 2018 entitled “Bispecific antibodies for factor IX and factor X”, which is incorporated by reference herein.
200 bispecific antibodies comprising a range of different anti-FX heavy chains, each in combination with the N0128H anti-FIX heavy chain and 0128L common VL domain, were screened using a factor Xa generation assay. This functional screening detects FVIIIa-mimetic activity, i.e., ability to enhance (catalyse) the FIXa-mediated activation of FX to FXa, in vitro by enzymatic “FXase” assay. In this assay, the test bispecific molecule is contacted with FIXa and FX in the presence of phospholipid, under conditions suitable for formation of FXa. A substrate for FXa is added which, when cleaved by FXa, generates a detectable product. Detection of this product in the presence of test bispecific antibody is compared with a negative control in which no test antibody is present (a control antibody may be included). The detected signal is quantified by recording absorbance of the reaction solution at 405 nm. Absorbance is measured across a range of antibody concentrations in the assay and an EC50 value is calculated as a measure of the bispecific antibody potency in this assay. Significant difference of EC50 between test antibody and control indicates that the test antibody is able to enhance FIXa-mediated activation of FX.
Results
Among all the bispecific antibodies assayed, a single one showed outstanding FXase activity: the N0128H anti-FIX heavy chain and T0200H anti-FX heavy chain, paired with 0128L common VL domain, had markedly higher FXase activity than all others in the panel.
Materials & Methods—Standard FXase Reaction Conditions
7.5 μL FIX (3.75 μg/mL) and 5 μL supernatant from the Expi293 cells producing the recombinant antibodies (Example 8) were added to each well of an assay plate and incubated at room temperature for 1 hour. A mixture of 2.5 μL FXIa (10 ng/mL), 5 μL FX (50 ng/mL), 0.05 μL phospholipid (10 mg/mL) and 5 μL TBSB-S buffer was added to each well to initiate enzymatic reaction (FIXa cleavage of FX to generate FXa), and incubated at 37° C. for 1 hour. After 60 minutes, the reaction was terminated by adding 5 μL of 0.5 M EDTA. After adding 10 μL S2765 substrate solution to each well, absorbance at 405 nm (reference wavelength 655 nm) was measured for 30 minutes (one reading per 10 minutes). All reactions were performed at 37° C. unless otherwise stated.
TBSB:
Tris buffered saline containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin
To make 7.5 mL TBSB:
0.1 mL 7.5% BSA solution (Sigma)
7.4 mL 1×TBS solution (diluted from 20×TBS solution ThermoFisher)
TBSB-S:
TBSB containing 5 mM CaCl2) and 1 mM MgCl2
To make 100 mL TBSB-S:
99.4 mL TBSB
0.5 mL 1M CaCl2) (Sigma)
0.1 mL 1M MgCl2 (Sigma)
FXIa Stock Solution (10 μg/mL):
Add 10 mL TBSB-S to 0.1 mg FXIa (Enzyme Research Laboratories) to make 10 μg/mL stock solution.
Dilute to 10 ng/mL (1:1,000) working solution before use.
F.IXa Stock Solution (5 μg/mL)
Add 100 mL TBSB-S to 0.5 mg FIXa (HFIXa 1080) (Enzyme Research Laboratories) to make 5 μg/mL stock solution.
Dilute to 1.0 μg/mL (1:5) working solution before use.
FIX Stock Solution (37.5 μg/mL):
Add 13.3 mL TBSB-S to 0.5 mg FIX (Enzyme Research Laboratories) to make 37.5 μg/mL stock solution.
Dilute to 3.75 μg/mL (1:10) working solution before use.
FX Working Solution (50 μg/mL):
Add 16 mL TBSB-S to 0.8 mg FX (Enzyme Research Laboratories) to make 50 μg/mL working solution.
No further dilution is needed before use.
S2765 Stock Solution:
25 mg S2765 (Chromogenix) chromogenic substrate (0.035 mmol)
To make 2 mM stock solution:
Add 17.493 mL water to the vial and dissolve with shaking.
Polybrene Solution:
To make 0.6 g/L hexadimethrine bromide stock solution:
Add 0.15 g hexadimethrine bromide (Sigma) to 250 mL water.
Dilute to 0.6 mg/L (1:1,000) working solution before use.
S2765 Substrate Working Solution
A 1:1 mixture of 2 mM S-2765 stock solution and 0.6 mg/L polybrene solution.
The bispecific antibody designated IXAX.0128.0200.0128, comprising N0128H anti-FIX VH domain, T0200H anti-FX VH domain and 0128L common light chain, demonstrated high FXase activity compared with the other bispecific antibodies. The T0200H VH domain was chosen for further development to attempt production of yet further improved bispecific antibodies.
Phylogenetic Analysis
From the bulk NGS (Example 1) and phylogenetic analysis, 113 anti-FX heavy chains were identified as belonging to the same lymphocyte cluster as the anti-FX heavy chain T0200H. The cluster represents B cells that appear to share a common evolutionary lineage. The anti-FX heavy chains within the cluster shared approximately 95% sequence identity with T0200H at the amino acid level.
The 113 anti-FX heavy chains were expressed in bispecific antibodies with a panel of different anti-FIX heavy chains and the 0128L common light chain, and screened by FXase assay.
We identified several anti-FX-heavy chains that showed increased FXase activity compared with the T0200H VH domain when assayed as bispecific antibodies.
A selection of the most active FX arm sequences is shown in
Using amino acid sequence comparisons, and supported by the functional data, we identified several amino acid residues in frameworks and CDR regions of the anti-FX heavy chains that differ in the most active VH domains and may contribute to the enhanced biological activity compared with T0200H. For example, one or more of the following amino acid features of the VH domain may increase the FVIII-mimetic activity of bispecific antibodies containing the VH domain (IMGT residue numbering):
Nevertheless it is clear that activity is high even without these amino acid substitutions, since T0200H itself shows strong activity in a bispecific antibody, and none of these substitutions was consistently present in all of the top VH domains (
Targeted Mutagenesis for Functional Optimisation
The CDR3 of VH domain T0201H was systematically mutated to provide a library of VH domains in which the residue at each position was individually replaced by another amino acid. The resulting VH domains were named TOXXXH, where XXX numbers are shown in
Removal of Potential Developmental Liability
An unpaired cysteine (C) residue present in CDR3 was identified as a high-risk sequence motif. This unpaired cysteine, present at position 114 in the CDR3 of T0200H and all 113 further anti-FX VH domains identified from the bulk NGS analysis, represents a liability for the development of the bispecific antibody. We screened VH domains containing substitutions of all other amino acids for the cysteine at this position in T0201H. These new variants were expressed with N1280H (see Example 6) and 0128L common light chain as IgG4 bispecific antibodies, purified by Protein A and screened for FVIII mimetic activity by FXase assay. Replacement of cysteine at position 114 with isoleucine (I), glutamine (Q), arginine (R), valine (V) or tryptophan (VV) resulted in bispecifics antibodies with FVIII mimetic activity similar to bispecific antibodies having the T0201H or T0202H VH domains. We conclude C114 can be replaced with a variety of other amino acids and still maintain FVIII mimetic activity.
Each amino acid residue in CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 was individually mutated to generate single position mutants of the anti-FIX N0128H heavy chain. The anti-FIX heavy chain variants thus generated were expressed in bispecific format, paired with anti-FX heavy chain T0201H and N0128L common VL domain in HEK293.
Protein A purified bispecific antibodies were assayed for biological activity by FXase (Example 7) and aPTT to look for amino acid changes that improved the FVIII-mimetic activity of the bispecific antibody. Improved variants were then combined to generate double or triple mutants in the CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 regions.
Table N identifies mutants of the N0128H VH domain in which one or more residues of the CDRs are mutated to other amino acids. For example the N0436H VH domain is a Ser→Ile mutant of the N0128H VH domain, i.e., in which the serine at IMGT position 111A in CDR3 is replaced by isoleucine. Further residue mutations were introduced on top of initial single mutations. For example the N0511H VH domain is a Ser112ALys mutant of the N0436H VH domain, i.e., in which the serine at IMGT position 112A in CDR3 is replaced by lysine. N1172H is a Glu64Arg mutant of the N0511H VH domain, i.e., in which the glutamate at IMGT position 64 in CDR2 is replaced by arginine. N1280H is a Thr29Arg mutant of the N1172H VH domain, i.e., in which the Thr at IMGT position 29 in CDR1 is replaced by arginine. The other named VH domains can be identified from Table N in the same manner.
Refer to
Anti-FX arms comprising the VH domain variants generated as described in Example 5 were combined with anti-FIX arms comprising the VH domain variants generated as described in Example 6, each paired with the 0128L common VL domain, to generate FIXAxFX bispecific antibodies, and screened for functional activity in the tenase assay.
Results
Example data are shown:
Highly active bispecific antibodies were identified for several combinations of anti-FIX VH and anti-FX VH domains, each paired with the 0128L common VL domain. Examples of anti-FIX VH and anti-FX VH domain combinations are shown in
The identity of the anti-FX VH domain appeared to have a stronger influence than the identity of the anti-FIX VH domain for these bispecific arm combinations, with T0638H, T0616H, T0596H and T0663H being among the highest-performing anti-FX VH domains. These anti-FX domains performed well in combination with a variety of anti-FIX arms, including variants of N1280H such as those indicated in
FVIII-mimetic activity of N128 bispecific antibody was sequentially optimised by modifying amino acid residues in any of the three CDRs. Several amino acid residues were identified to increase FVIII mimetic activity across the CDRs and these mutations were combined to maximise activity. The FVIII mimetic activity of antibodies with the N0128H VH domain was progressively improved with further VH domains in the following order: N0128H→N0436H→N0511H→N1091H→N01172H→N1280H→N1333H.
Materials & Methods—Modified FXase Reaction Conditions.
Initial screening for bispecific antibody FVIII mimetic activity was assessed using the Standard FXase Reaction Conditions set out above in Example 3. As the FVIII mimetic activity of the bispecific antibody increased, the Standard FXase reaction conditions were no longer sufficient to detect improvements in FXase activity. Therefore, more sensitive Modified FXase Reaction Conditions were established.
This modified assay differs from the Standard FXase Reaction Conditions in the following ways: FXIa is not used, the activated form of Factor IX (FIXa) is used and there is no incubation step. All FXase reagents are mixed with a bispecific antibody and the generation of FXa is detected by recording the absorbance of the reaction solution 40 to 50 times every 30 seconds at 405 nm using an Envision plate reader set to 37° C.
18.45 μl TBSB-S buffer was mixed with 0.05 μl phospholipid (10 mg/ml) and mixed vigorously by pipetting to disperse the phospholipid. To this mixture 1.5 μl FIXa (1 μg/ml) and 5 μl of FX (50 μg/ml), was combined with 5 μl of polybrene (0.6 mg/L) and 5 μl S2765 (4 mM), all pre-warmed to 37° C. Finally, 5 ul of bispecific antibody being investigated for FXase activity was added. Absorbance at 405 nm (reference wavelength 655 nm) was recorded 40 to 50 times every 30 seconds.
Anti-FX arms comprising the VH domain variants generated as described in Example 5 were combined with anti-FIX arms comprising the VH domain variants generated as described in Example 6, each paired with the 0128L common VL domain, to generate FIXaxFX bispecific antibodies. To determine the ability of the bispecific antibodies of the present invention to correct the coagulation ability of the blood of haemophilia A patients, the effect of these antibodies on the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) using FVIII deficient plasma was examined.
A mixture of 5 μL of bispecific antibody solution having a variety of concentrations, 20 μL of FVIII deficient plasma (Helena Biosciences), and 25 μL of aPTT reagent (APTT Si L Minus, Helena Biosciences) was warmed at 37° C. for 3 minutes. The coagulation reaction was initiated by adding 25 μL of 25 mM CaCl2 (Helena Biosciences) to the mixture. The time period until coagulation was measured. Apparatus used for this was C-4 4 channel coagulation analyser (Helena Biosciences).
A sample of results is shown in
Concentration dependency was subsequently determined for bispecific antibodies that exhibited the highest coagulation time-reducing effect.
For example, IXAX-1280.0201.0128 IgG4 antibody demonstrated a dose dependent decrease in aPTT, comparable to the reference antibody AbE (positive control).
Considering data from a variety of functional assays including those described in Example 7 and Example 8, it was noted that the anti-FX VH domain T0201 and its sequence variants performed well in combination with a variety of anti-FIX VH domains in bispecific antibodies with the common light chain. For example, anti-FIX VH domains N0128H, N0436H, N0511H, N1091H, N1172H, N1280H, N1314H, N1327H and N1333H all gave good functional activity in the bispecific antibodies. These anti-FIX VH domains share a close structural relationship.
Binding affinity and the kinetics of antibody-antigen interaction were determined using SPR. Affinity and kinetics of purified test antibodies (all IgG4PE) were compared to comparator anti-FIX antibody AbN or comparator anti-FX antibody AbT as positive control and to an isotype control (ISTC) as negative control.
Binding Affinity for FIX
The anti-FIX antibodies analysed showed binding to FIX in the affinity range of approximately 0.18 μM to 0.3 μM and fast association (kon) and dissociation (koff) rates for FIX. The anti-FIX antibodies analysed showed slightly higher binding affinity to FIX and higher association rate compared to the comparator antibody AbN. No binding to FIX was observed with ISTC. Table E-10-1.
Binding Affinity for FX
The anti-FX antibodies analysed showed binding to FX in the affinity range of approximately 0.1 μM to 1.4 μM and fast association (kon) and dissociation (koff) rate for FX. No binding to FX was observed with ISTC.
The anti-FX antibodies analysed similar binding affinity to FX compared to the benchmark antibody AbT.
Materials & Methods
SPR was used to determine the binding affinity (KD) to FIX or FX respectively, the kinetic constants on-rate (kon) and off-rate (koff). Analyses was performed using a Biacore 8K (GE Healthcare) system.
Anti-human IgG Fc antibody was immobilised on CM4 chip (GE Healthcare) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The chip surface was activated by amine coupling and subsequently blocked with 1M ethanolamine. The immobilisation run was performed at 25° C. using HBS-EP as immobilisation running buffer.
Monospecific antibodies (referred as ligand) which had been purified on Protein A were captured onto the anti-human IgG Fc CM4 surface at approximately 2 μg/ml. The ligands were injected for 60 seconds at 10 μl/min in all the active channels of all 8 flow channels. The run was performed at 25° C. using neutral pH HBS-P 1×+CaCl2 2.5 mM as running buffer.
Human FIX (MW ˜55 KDa) or human FX (MW ˜58 KDa) was reconstituted at 1 mg/ml in the running buffer and used as analyte. The analyte was injected in multiple cycle kinetics (MCK) mode at 3 concentrations (1.5 μM, 500 nM and 166.7 nM) with 120 seconds association phase and 200 seconds (for FIX) or 300 seconds (for FX) dissociation phase, at flow rate 30 μl/sec in both active and reference channels. Three injections of 10 mM Glycine pH 1.5 for 60 sec. at 10 μl/min were used for the regeneration phase.
For the anti-FIX analysis, ISTC antibody hIgG4PE was captured at 1 μg/ml for 60 seconds at 10 μl/min in the reference channel. hIgG4PE ISTC and hIgG1 ISTC were also captured in the active channel as a negative control. The monospecific antibody AbN was used as positive control.
For the anti-FX analysis, the hIgG4PE ISTC was also captured in the active channel as a negative control. The monospecific antibody AbT was used as positive control.
The values for association rate constant (kon), dissociation rate constant (koff) and dissociation constant (KD) were calculated from the binding data by BIAevaluation software. Data were reference and buffer subtracted and fitted into one step biomolecular reaction (Langmuir 1:1) model. The first 30 seconds of dissociation were evaluated in the model.
The ability of FIXxFX bispecific antibody IXAX-0436.0202.0128 to bind simultaneously to FIX and FX was demonstrated using SPR. The binding kinetics of the purified bispecific antibody was compared to an isotype control (ISTC). Sensorgrams of the binding indicated that the bispecific antibody bound simultaneously to FIX and FX while no binding to FIX and FX was observed with ISTC.
FIX was flown over the surface captured with the bispecific antibody to allow the binding with the first analyte. The interaction between the bispecific antibody generated a baseline response as indicated in the sensogram
Contrarily no binding to FIX or FX was observed when FIX and FX were flown over the surface where an isotype control was captured, demonstrating the specificity of interaction between FI and FX to the bispecific antibody.
Sensorgram for the bispecific antibody can also be compared with sensorgram for monospecific antibody. When the antibody captured is an anti-FX monospecific the same series of injection does not give any significant response when FIX is flown over instead when the second injection is performed (1:1 mixture) approximately 50 response units (RU) are observed while with the bispecific the response is 25 RU higher.
A key feature of the FVII-mimetic bispecific antibody is the ability to bind simultaneously FIX and FX, to promote the conversion of FX into FXa by FIXa. The binding observed represents a biophysical confirmation that the bispecific antibodies described herein can interact simultaneously with Factor IX and Factor IX, which is in agreement with the functional data described in the accompanying Examples.
Materials & Methods
SPR analysis was performed using a Biacore 8K (GE Healthcare) system.
An anti-human IgG Fc antibody was immobilised on CM4 chip (GE Healthcare) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The chip surface was activated by amine coupling and subsequently blocked with 1M ethanolamine. The immobilisation run was performed at 25° C. using HBS-EP as immobilisation running buffer.
Bispecific antibody (ligand), which had been purified by Protein A capture followed by ion exchange chromatography, was captured on to the anti-human IgG Fc CM4 surface at approximately 2 μg/ml. The ligand was injected at 10 μg/ml for 60 seconds at 10 μl/min in one active channel. The run was performed at 25° C. using neutral pH HBS-P 1×+CaCl2 2.5 mM as running buffer.
Human FIX and human FX (analytes) were reconstituted at 1.15 mg/ml in the running buffer and used as analytes. Analytes were injected at 10 μM alone or mixed 1:1 (10 μM 10 μM) at 10 μl/min for 180 seconds.
An isotype control hIgG4PE antibody was captured at 10 μg/ml for 60 seconds at 10 μl/min in the reference channel as negative control. A blank injection of buffer was performed for all the samples to be used in the double referencing process. Three injections of 10 mM glycine pH 1.5 for 30 seconds at 30 μl/min were used for the regeneration phase. The data were referenced and buffer subtracted and fitted into Langmuir 1:1 model.
The anti-FIX binding arm of the bispecific antibody was “fixed” as a VH domain comprising the CDRs of N1280H and a VL domain comprising the CDRs of 0128L, while further refinements were made to the anti-FX VH domain to improve performance. 0128L was used as a common light chain.
Table T identifies mutants of the T0201H VH domain in which one or more residues of the CDRs are mutated to other amino acids. The table shows the name given to each variant VH domain having the identified mutation. In each case, residues other than those indicated are left unchanged. For example, the T0616H VH domain is a Leu115Ile mutant of the T0201H VH domain, i.e., in which the leucine (L) at IMGT position 115 in CDR3 is replaced by isoleucine (I). Further residue changes were introduced to the variants containing the single mutations in the T0201H VH domain, resulting in further variants representing combinations of different mutations in the T0201H VH domain. For example, the T0687H VH domain is a Ser111APhe, Cys114Val, Leu115Ile mutant of the T0201H VH domain, i.e., in which the serine at IMGT position 111A in CDR3 is replaced by phenylalanine (T0537H mutation), the cysteine at IMGT position 114 in CDR3 is replaced by valine (T0606H mutation), and the leucine at IMGT position 115 is replaced by isoleucine (T0616H mutation). Sequences of other named anti-FX VH domains can be identified from Table T in the same manner. Refer to
Bispecific antibodies, purified by Protein A chromatography, were tested for functional activity to look for improvement over the parent bispecific comprising T0201H VH domain.
Improved antibodies were identified in the FXase assay (using Modified FXase Reaction Conditions as detailed in Example 7) and aPTT assay (method as detailed in Example 8).
Mutagenesis of HCDR3 produced improvements in FVIII mimetic activity. HCDRs of VH domains demonstrating improved activity are indicated in
Concluding the HCDR3 mutagenesis of T0201H, the VH domains T0687H, T0678H and T0681H demonstrated the strongest activity in the bispecific antibodies.
Functional activity of the bispecific antibodies was still further improved through mutagenesis of HCDR1 and HCDR2 in the anti-FX arm. Starting with T0681H, each amino acid residue of CDR1 and CDR2 was systematically replaced by all other possible amino acids, generating the VH domains numbered T0690H to T0993H identified in Table T.
aPTT and TGA analyses were also conducted to support functional assessment of HCDR1 variants. The VH domains T0736 (S29K mutation), T0713, T0734, T0742, T0774 and T0785 showed improved activity compared with T0681H. Based on the functional analyses of HCDR1 variants of T0681H, VH domain T0736H was selected as the top performer. As compared with T0201H, T0736H combines a Ser29Lys substitution in CDR1 with the Ser111APhe Cys114Val and Leu115Ile substitutions in CDR3.
FXase, aPTT and TGA analyses were also conducted to support functional assessment of HCDR2 variants. Based on the functional analyses of HCDR2 variants of T0681H, the following VH domains were identified to have improved activity compared with T0681H: T0926H (S62K), T850H (156L), T0925H (S62L), T0951H (G63S), T0958H (S64D), T0989 (T65R) and T0990H (T65S).
Selected CDR1 and CDR2 variants were then combined with selected CDR3, generating further VH domain variants to investigate possible further improvements in activity.
FXase assay data for high-performing antibodies are summarised in
Bispecific antibodies comprising the VH domains shown in
FXase activity and clotting times were comparable with the comparator bispecific antibody AbE.
The thrombin generation assay (TGA) detects the activation of prothrombin to thrombin in blood plasma. As thrombin is generated it converts a fluorogenic substrate into a fluorophore, which is continuously monitored by a plate reader. The TGA provides a robust measure of the ability of bispecific antibodies to substitute for FVIII in the coagulation cascade in FVIII-deficient plasma, and kinetics of thrombin generation in the TGA are believed to be highly reliable as an indicator of in vivo therapeutic performance of FVIII-mimetic drugs.
Results
To establish a suitable concentration for factor IXa as a TGA trigger, we initially performed TGAs with a fixed concentration of bispecific antibody whilst varying the concentration of FIXa present in the trigger reagent. We determined that a stock solution of 1 ml MP reagent containing 222 nM FIXa is sufficient to trigger thrombin generation for normal pooled human plasma (final concentration, 0.33 nM FIXa) with a Cmax of 418.11 nM thrombin, a Tmax of 7.67 minutes and a lagtime of 5.83 minutes.
Bispecific antibody VH domain T0201H and CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 combinatorial variants of T0201H were expressed with FIX N1280H arm and N0128 common light chain in HEK cells, purified by protein A chromatography and analysed at a final concentration of 133 nM and 80 nM. The VH domain variants exhibited shortening lagtime, increasing Cmax and shorter time to peak compared with T0201H, with T0999 demonstrating the largest thrombin peak height and shortest time to peak at both concentrations analysed. Performance of at least IXAX-1280.0999.0128 was comparable with that of AbE and of the emicizumab calibrator. AbE demonstrated a lagtime, peak height and time to peak of 2.5 mins, 291.8 nM and 6.0 minutes respectively, and IXAX-1280.0999.0128 demonstrated a lagtime, peak height and time to peak of 2.0 mins, 317.2 nM and 5 minutes.
For a dose response TGA, bispecific antibody IXAX-1280.0999.0128 was expressed in HEK cells, purified by Protein A chromatography and bispecific heterodimer purified by ion exchange chromatography. Using 0.3 nM FIXa trigger, dose response of Cmax (nM) and Tmax (min) in the TGA was carried out on FVIII deficient plasma spiked with bispecific antibody IXAX-1280.0999.0128 and compared against emicizumab calibrator. Both bispecific antibodies demonstrated a linear decrease in Cmax with increasing antibody concentration. IXAX-1280.0999.0128 achieved a greater Cmax than the calibrator antibody, this increase being more pronounced at lower bispecific antibody concentrations. See
Materials & Methods
For the initial experimental work to establish a suitable concentration of factor IXa as a TGA trigger, 80 μl normal pooled plasma, taken from healthy individuals (Helena Biosciences), was mixed with 20 μl of trigger reagent (Microparticle (MP) reagent which is composed of phospholipids only containing varying amounts of FIXa) in Immulon 2HB transparent U-bottom 96 well plates (ThermoFisher #3665). All reagents were used according to manufacturers instructions, pre-warmed to 37° C. in a water bath.
Once a final concentration of 0.33 nM FIXa was determined to be sufficient to trigger thrombin generation for normal plasma, the same assay conditions including 0.3 nM FIXa were applied with FVIII-depleted plasma in calibrated automated thrombogram assays.
FVIII immunodepleted plasma (Helena Biosciences) was mixed with 20 μl of trigger reagent (Microparticle (MP) reagent which is composed of phospholipids only containing 222 nM FIXa, final concentration 0.33 nM) in Immulon 2HB transparent U-bottom 96 well plates. All reagents were used according to manufacturers instructions, pre-warmed to 37° C. in a water bath. A TGA dose response was carried out starting at 300 nM of test bispecific antibody or of emicizumab calibrator ((emicizumab spiked into FVIII deficient plasma (Enzyme Research Laboratories)) with a 1 in 3 dilution series over five points. A human IgG4 isotype control antibody was used as negative control, and normal (FVIII+ve) pooled plasma spiked with PBS was used as positive control.
Samples were measured in duplicate, accompanied by duplicate calibrator wells containing a thrombin calibrator (containing a pre-determined quantity of thrombin) in the same plasma. The 96 well plate was warmed to 37° C. in a Fluoroskan Ascent plate reader (Thermo) for 10 minutes. Thrombin generation commenced upon addition of 20 μl FluCa reagent (fluorogenic substrate, ZGGR-AMC (2.5 mM), in buffer containing 100 mM CaCl2). TGA reagents were obtained from Stago. Increase in fluorescence over time was monitored by the plate reader.
A thrombin calibrator curve was run alongside each sample being investigated. Using a calibrator, with a known concentration of thrombin, the amount of thrombin generated in a sample under investigation can be calculated from the fluorescent signal obtained using software ThrombinoscopeBV. Fluorescence from test wells was calibrated against fluorescence from the thrombin calibrator wells, to determine the equivalent thrombin generated in the test wells.
Run data were analysed using Stago analysis software. The amount of thrombin generated was determined using the thrombin calibrator curve with known activity. The following aspects of the thrombogram were determined: lag time (minutes), endogenous thrombin potential (ETP; area under the thrombogram, nM thrombin/minute), peak height (Cmax; nM thrombin), time to peak (Tmax/minutes), velocity index (VI; nM/minute, slope between lag time and time to peak) and tail start (minutes; time at which the thrombin generation has come to an end).
To evaluate the maximal thrombin peak height (Cmax, nM Thrombin) and time to peak (Tmax, minutes) of bispecific antibody IXAX-1280.0999.0325 we performed thrombin generation assays (TGA) in human FVIII-depleted plasma using a full antibody concentration dose response according to the method set out in Example 13. Data generated from dose response curves was fitted using a non-linear log [antibody] vs response parameter variable slope model (4 parameter logistic regression model). AbE was included for comparison. IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and AbE used in this assay were determined by mass spectrometry to be close to 100% heterodimer, with no homodimeric contaminants detected.
Over a prospective therapeutic window spanning 300 to 30 nM, equivalent to 45 to 4.5 μg/ml, we observed equivalent (within 10%) or greater Cmax (nM Thrombin) values for IXAX-1280.0999.0325 compared to AbE at all concentrations analysed (
Using the Cmax curve, it can be predicted that IXAX-1280.0999.0325 can achieve the same activity as 45 μg/mL of emicizumab when its concentration is equal to or greater than 8 μg/mL, which suggests a potential efficacy advantage with IXAX-1280.0999.0325 compared with emicizumab.
Analysis of the same dose response but with respect to Tmax, we observed equivalent (within 10%) or less than (or reduced) Tmax values for IXAX-1280.0999.0325 compared to AbE at all concentrations analysed (
In respect to the therapeutic ranges indicated in
The activities of three further bispecific antibodies (BiAb 2, 3 and 4) were also assessed in the TGA and compared against the performance of IXAX-1280.0999.0325 (BiAb 1) and commercially available emicizumab calibrator (Enzyme Research Laboratories) in commercially available human FVIII-depleted plasma (Helena Biosciences). BiAbs were as follows, each including heavy chain constant regions SEQ ID NO: 409 and SEQ ID NO: 410 respectively in the two heavy chains, and lambda light chain constant region SEQ ID NO: 146 in the common light chain:
BiAb_1, 2, 3 and 4 dose-dependently increased thrombin peak height (Cmax), and dose-dependently decreased time to peak (Tmax) in the same manner as emicizumab. The top of Cmax curve of BiAb_1 was measured at about 368 nM, higher than that of emicizumab (334.8 nM). EC50 (Cmax) of BiAb_1, 2, 3, and 4 were similar to each other and had calculated EC50s of 6.45 nM, 5.87 nM, 5.2 nM and 4.81 nM respectively, representing EC50s between 26% and 35% of the EC50 of emicizumab (18.33 nM).
In a third study, BiAb_1 (IXAX-1280.0999.0325) was again compared with commercially available emicizumab calibrator by using TGA assay in human FVIII-depleted plasma. BiAb_1 dose-dependently increased thrombin peak height (Cmax), and dose-dependently decreased time to peak (Tmax).
Assay to assay variation is observed between the TGA as shown in
In summary, TGA data with either the commercially available emicizumab calibrator or the generated reference antibody AbE consistently indicated an efficacy advantage for BiAb_1 (IXAX-1280.0999.0325) compared with emicizumab. An advantage was also observed with the other antibodies tested (BiAb_2, BiAb_3 and BiAb_4).
According to an FDA multi-disciplinary review of emicizumab, a median annualized bleeding rate (ABR) of 0 would be achieved at emicizumab steady state trough plasma concentration ≥45 μg/mL[17]. Using the Cmax curves from the TGA described above, it is predicted that BiAb_1 can achieve the same activity as 45 μg/mL of emicizumab when its concentration is equal to or greater than about 2-4 μg/mL. This observation suggests a potential efficacy and/or dosing advantage with respect to emicizumab. The differences in activity potentially mean that the bispecific antibody can achieve the same therapeutic effect when administered at lower dose and/or less frequently than emicizumab, representing a clinical advantage. Although the higher Cmax indicates the potential for a more powerful procoagulant capability, the magnitude of this increase is unlikely to be associated with safety concerns.
Affinity and kinetics of purified anti-FIX and anti-FX antibodies for binding to their respective antigens was determined by SPR as described in Example 10 above.
The anti-FIX antibodies showed binding to FIX with an affinity range of approximately
0.05 μM-0.3 μM (50-300 nM), with a general trend of increasing affinity (lower K
The anti-FX antibodies showed binding to FX with an affinity range of approximately 0.3-3 μM. Table E15-2. Anti-FX antibody MONA was included as a control low affinity antibody with VH and VL domains from an IgM clone obtained from the single cell sorting (Example 1).
To evaluate expression of the bispecific antibodies, IXAX-1172.0201.0128 was chosen as a representative antibody for minipool analysis. Minipool analysis allows screening of CHO stably transfected cells expressing large amounts (at least 1 g/I) of heterodimeric bispecific antibody and represents a means of evaluating stable bispecific antibody expression.
Using standard Lonza fed-batch overgrowth protocols for stably transfected CHO-K1 cells, bispecific antibodies were expressed. After transfection, 5000 viable cells were aliquoted per well to generate multiple minipools. 8 were taken forward based on antibody titres as measured by Octet.
Cells were harvested, filtered and purified by Protein A chromatography to isolate the antibodies from the supernatant. Antibody concentration (mg) was quantified by OD280, total amount of antibody (mg) was calculated accordingly based on volume of sample and a purification yield (mg/L) assigned according to cell culture volume. The relative percentages of heterodimer and homodimers in each of the 8 minipool samples was determined using imaged capillary isoelectic focusing (icIEF) (Protein Simple, Maurice). Homodimer and heterodimer peaks were assigned using transiently expressed reference homodimer arms for FIX and FX.
We were able to isolate stably transfected cells expressing approximately 1 g/L bispecific antibody with up to approximately 95% heterodimer (e.g., as shown for MP_1 and MP_7,
Bispecific antibody activity in FXase assay correlated with % heterodimer with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.99 (
Co-expression of the two heavy chains and one common light chain of a bispecific antibody generates a composition comprising the bispecific antibody plus monospecific antibody byproducts. These may be separated by ion exchange chromatography, exploiting differences in the isoelectric point of the bispecific heterodimer compared with the monospecific homodimers.
Bispecific antibody IXAX-1280.0999.0128 comprises anti-FIX heavy chain SEQ ID NO: 419, anti-FX heavy chain SEQ ID NO: 421 and common light chain SEQ ID NO: 405. The bispecific antibody was purified following co-expression of these polypeptides in HEK cells, using protein A chromotography to isolate the antibodies from cell supernatant, followed by ion exchange chromatography to isolate the heterodimer.
Bispecific antibody IXAX-0436.0201.0128 comprises anti-FIX heavy chain comprising VH domain SEQ ID NO: 324 and an IgG4 human heavy chain constant region with P (hinge) mutation and K439E, anti-FX heavy chain comprising VH domain SEQ ID NO: 470 and IgG4 human heavy chain constant region with P (hinge) mutation and E356K, and common light chain SEQ ID NO: 405.
Bispecific antibody IXAX-0436.0202.0128 comprises anti-FIX heavy chain comprising VH domain SEQ ID NO: 324 and an IgG4 human heavy chain constant region with P (hinge) mutation and K439E, anti-FX heavy chain comprising VH domain SEQ ID NO: 472 and IgG4 human heavy chain constant region with P (hinge) mutation and E356K, and common light chain SEQ ID NO: 405.
Bispecific antibody IXAX-1172.0201.0128 comprises anti-FIX heavy chain comprising VH domain SEQ ID NO: 440 and an IgG4 human heavy chain constant region with P (hinge) mutation and K439E, anti-FX heavy chain comprising VH domain SEQ ID NO: 470 and an IgG4 human heavy chain constant region with P (hinge) mutation and E356K, and common light chain SEQ ID NO: 405.
Ion exchange chromatography cleanly separated each antibody composition into its component parts. Baseline separation was observed. Anti-FIXxFX heterodimeric bispecific antibody is separated from homodimeric contaminant anti-FIX and/or anti-FX monospecific antibodies.
Materials & Methods
For IXAX-1280.0999.0128 purification, bispecific antibody was transiently expressed in Expi293F HEK cells. Cell culture supernatant was harvested, filtered and loaded on to a 5 ml HiTrap MabSelect Sure (MSS) column (GE Healthcare) equilibrated with 1× phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The column was washed with 5 column volumes of PBS and bound antibody was eluted using IgG elute (ThermoFisher). Eluted bispecific antibody was dialysed into 1×PBS overnight at 4° C. and concentrated using a centrifugal filter unit with a 10 kDa molecular weight cut off.
Chromatography was performed at room temperature. A 1 ml HiTrap Capto SP column (GE Healthcare) was equilibrated with 20 mM sodium phosphate, pH 6.0 and 0.5 mg of Protein A purified material, diluted 1:20 in equilibration buffer (20 mM sodium phosphate, pH 6.0), was loaded on to the column. The column was subsequently washed with 10 column volumes of equilibration buffer followed by a linear gradient (100% B over 90 column volumes to 500 mM NaCl) to elute the bispecific antibody and monospecific contaminants. In this process, buffer is progressively changed from A (20 mM sodium phosphate, pH 6.0, no salt) to B (buffer A with the addition of 500 mM NaCl) over 90 cv at a flow rate of 1 ml/min for the 1 ml column.
For IXAX-0436.0202.0128 purification, a stepwise gradient including washes at three different ionic strengths was applied using varied proportions of Buffer A (50 mM sodium acetate, pH 5) and Buffer B (50 nM sodium acetate and 500 mM sodium chloride).
For IXAX-1172.0201.0128 purification. an initial stepwise elution was used to remove weakly bound Peak 1 (anti-FIX homodimer) followed by a gradient elution using increasing concentrations of NaCl to elute the anti-FIX/FX bispecific.
Subsequently, the following bispecific antibodies were expressed in CHO cells:
Each of these bispecific antibodies includes heavy chain constant regions SEQ ID NO:
409 and SEQ ID NO: 410 respectively for the two heavy chains, and lambda light chain constant region SEQ ID NO: 146 in the common light chain.
The titres observed from transient expression of each of antibodies 1 to 5 above in CHO cells were comparable to titres for a monospecific isotype control antibody. Stable pools and mini-pools (up to 4,000 cells seeded after transfection) were also generated. Although the stable pools produced low percentages (11-19%) of heterodimeric antibody, mini-pools with titres up to 4.9 g/I and percentages of heterodimers up to 82% were established from a limited number of screened mini-pools.
After protein A purification, cation exchange chromatography was used to remove homodimeric by-products to generate high-purity materials suitable for use in functional assays and for developability screening.
Using a gradient cation exchange method, antibodies 1 to 4 were separated from the homodimeric by-products, providing 91-96% heterodimer in the eluted material. Thus, even with this preliminary purification method we were able to obtain 91-96% pure heterodimer.
The structural integrity of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies can be compromised by multiple types of post-translational modifications which result in product heterogeneity. Mass spectrometry (MS) was used to characterize and evaluate the quality of the bispecific antibodies after cation exchange purification.
After cation exchange separation as described in Example 17, the three different species (anti-FIX/anti-FX heterodimer, anti-FIX homodimer and anti-FX homodimer respectively) in the eluted composition of BiAb_1 IXAX-1280.0999.0325 were analysed by MS. Molecular weights (MW) of the three molecules determined by MS matched the theoretical MW predicted by amino acid sequences of BiAb_1. MS results thus confirmed the identity and the purity of FIX/FX heterodimer after cation exchange purification.
After purification as described in Example 17, BiAb_1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively were buffer exchanged to either buffer 1 (sodium acetate, pH 5.5) or buffer 2 (citrate/phosphate, pH 6.0), stored for 2 weeks at 4° C., for 4 weeks at 25° C., or underwent 1× freeze/thaw cycle. The concentration of IgG was measured before and after treatment to calculate the loss of antibodies due to the treatment. SEC-HPLC was also performed before and after treatment to monitor for bispecific antibody degradation and aggregation. No obvious loss or degradation of BiAb_1, 2, 3 or 4 was observed. These four bispecific antibodies were thus all stable in both buffer 1 and buffer 2.
A FXase kinetic assay was conducted to measure the factor VIII mimetic activity of IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and AbE in a dose response to determine their EC50 values as per Example 7. Data generated from dose response curves was fitted using a non-linear log[antibody] vs response parameter variable slope model (4 parameter logistic regression model).
A chromogenic assay (HYPHEN BioMed), which analyses factor Xa production in human plasma, was used to measure the factor VIII mimetic activity of IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and AbE. In this assay, FXa generation is proportional to the OD405 measured after chromogenic substrate addition. Antibody concentration dose response curves were generated and fitted using a non-linear log[antibody] vs response parameter variable slope model (4 parameter logistic regression model). EC50 values based on the dose responses were calculated. An EC50 value of 5.92 nM was calculated for IXAX-1280.0999.0325 compared with 15.43 nM for AbE.
IXAX-1280.0999.0325 consistently achieved greater FVIII mimetic ability than AbE over almost all concentrations. At 60 nM the A405 nm had saturated at 4.988 for both molecules. IXAX-1280.0999.0325 retained this saturation at 20 nM while AbE presented with a decreased A405 nm of 3.457. At the lowest concentration of 0.028 nM, IXAX-1280.0999.0325 displayed over 4-fold greater absorbance than AbE. The calculated EC50 values confirm that IXAX-1280.0999.0325 shows a superior potency when comparing to AbE across a dose response assay.
Materials & Methods
The BIOPHEN FVIII:C (Ref. 221402) kit was used following manufacture's assay protocol. Briefly, FVIII deficient plasma (Helena Biosciences Europe) was diluted 1:40 using Tris-BSA buffer (R4) and 45 μl was added to a clear bottom 96-well plate. 5 μl of bispecific antibody was added to the diluted plasma. 50 μl each of reagent R1 (FX) and R2 (FIXa), pre-incubated to 37° C., was added to each well and incubated at 37° C. for five minutes. Subsequently, 50 μl of reagent R3 (SXa-11, chromogenic reagent) was added, mixed and incubated for an additional five minutes, exactly. Addition of 50 μl 20% acetic acid terminated the reaction. Generation of Factor Xa was monitored through the ability of factor Xa to cleave a specific factor Xa substrate (SXa-11). Cleavage of this substrate releases the coloured product, pNA, which can be monitored using a spectrophotometer at 405 nM and compared to a blank sample.
IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and AbE used in this assay were determined by mass spectrometry to be close to 100% heterodimer, with no (or low levels of) homodimeric contaminants detected.
IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and AbE samples were diluted using a 1:3 dilution series with PBS as diluent. 5 μL volume was added to 45 μL factor VIII deficient plasma. The final concentrations (nM) of each sample in the dilution series (when assayed) were: 60.0, 20.0, 6.67, 2.22, 0.741, 0.247, 0.082, and 0.028. Concentrations were converted to log(M) and plotted. A non-linear regression was plotted on the graph to enable EC50 calculation.
We evaluated the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) of bispecific antibody AbE against IXAX-1280.0999.0325 using a full antibody concentration dose response (method according to Example 8). Data generated from dose response curves were fitted using a non-linear log[antibody] vs response parameter variable slope model (4 parameter logistic regression model).
Over the concentration values analysed we observed equivalent aPTT values (within 10%) for IXAX-1280.0999.0325 compared to AbE at all concentrations analysed (
With respect to a prospective therapeutic range of 30-300 nM, we observe with IXAX-1280.0999.0325 an aPTT dose response curve equivalent to that of AbE.
IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and AbE used in this assay were determined by mass spectrometry to be 100% heterodimer, with no homodimeric contaminants detected.
Factor VIII replacement therapy can become ineffective for treating patients with haemophilia A if the patient develops alloantibodies against the exogenously administered FVIII. Inhibitory anti-FVIII alloantibodies may block the binding of FIX, phospholipid and von Willebrand factor to FVIII, rendering it inactive.
Advantageously, therapeutic bispecific antibodies are insensitive to the presence of FVIII alloantibodies in a patient's blood, as the alloantibodies have specificity to FVIII. This is confirmed by the ability of a bispecific antibody to functionally restore haemostasis in plasma taken from an inhibitor patient. In this Example, we demonstrate this using two haemostatic assays: activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and Thrombin Generation Assay (TGA) using plasma from a patient with haemophilia A having inhibitory alloantibodies (referred to as “inhibitor plasma”). A restoration of clotting time indicated that the bispecific antibodies analysed are functional in the presence of a FVIII inhibitory alloantibody. Thus, the data presented here indicate that IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and IXAX-1441.0999.0325 will be able to functionally rescue clotting time in patients who have inhibitory alloantibodies against FVIII.
The Bethesda assay or the Nijmegen-Modified Bethesda assay is used measure the titre of alloantibodies against FVIII. In these assays, different dilutions of patient's plasma are mixed with an equal volume of ‘normal’ plasma and left to incubate for a period of time and the level of FVIII is measured. Presence of an inhibitor is indicated when a decrease in residual FVIII is observed. The unit of measurement in these assays are known as Bethesda Units (BU)—a higher BU indicating greater inhibition and lower residual FVIII activity. The experiments described here used patient plasma having a specific inhibitor level of 70 BU.
aPTT
IgG4 bispecific antibodies IXAX-1280.0999.0325, IXAX-1441.0999.0325 and AbE were expressed in CHO cells then purified by Protein A chromatography followed by cation exchange chromatography to separate active heterodimer from contaminating homodimers and analysed at six different concentrations 300, 100, 33.3, 11.1, 3.7 and 1.23 nM by aPTT. aPTT was carried out as per Example 8. Data generated from dose response curves were fitted using a non-linear log[antibody] vs response parameter variable slope model (4 parameter logistic regression model). Both IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and IXAX-1441.0999.0325 IgG4 antibodies were able to rescue the clotting defect in the inhibitor patient sample in a similar manner to AbE.
Thrombin Generation Assay
Thrombin generation in inhibitor plasma (70 BU) was determined using for IXAX-1280.0999.0325, IXAX-1441.0999.0325 and AbE IgG4 bispecific antibodies following purification on Protein A followed by cation exchange chromatography. A thrombin generation assay was used as per Example 13. A thrombin peak was observed for all bispecific antibodies, indicating that both IXAX-1280.0999.0325 and IXAX-1441.0999.0325 can functionally restore haemostasis in plasma containing inhibitory alloantibodies to FVIII, in a similar way to AbE.
A dose response for each bispecific antibody was carried out and the peak thrombin height (Cmax) was determined.
GAAGTGCAGCTGGTTGAATCTGGCGGCGGATTTGTTCAGCCTGGCGGCTCTCTGAGACTGTCCTGTGCTGTGTCC
GGCTTCCGGTTCAACTCCTACTGGATGTCCTGGGTCCGACAGGCTCCTGGCAAAGGACTGGAATGGGTCGCCAAC
ATCAACCAGGACGGCTCCCGGAAGTTCTACGTGGCCTCTGTGAAGGGCAGATTCACCATGTCTCGGGACAACGCC
AAGAAATCCGTGTACGTGCAGATGAACTCCCTGAGAGCCGAGGACACCGCCGTGTACTACTGTGCTAGAGAGGGC
TACTCCTCCATCAAGTACTACGGCATGGACGTGTGGGGCCAGGGCACAACCGTGACAGTCTCTTCCGCTTCCACC
CAGGTTCAGCTGATTCAGTCCGGCGCCAAAGTGAAGAAACCTGGCGCCTCTGTGAAGGTGTCCTGCAAGGCCTCT
CGGTACAAGTTCACCTCCTACTACATGCACTGGGTCCGACAGGCCCCTGGACAAGGATTGGAGTGGATGGGCATC
ATCAACCCCAAGTCCGGCTCCACCTCTTACGCCCAGAAATTCCAGGGCAGAGTGACCATGACCAGAGACACCTCT
ACCTCCACCGTGTACATGGAACTGTCCAGCCTGAGATCCGAGGACACCGCCGTGTACTACTGTGCCAGAGATGGC
TACGGCAGCTTCTCCAGACTGATCCAGTTGTGGGGCCAGGGCACACTGGTCACAGTGTCCTCTGCTTCCACCAAG
TACGTGCTGACCCAGCCTCCTTCCGTGTCTGTTGCTCCTGGCGAGACAGCCAGAATCACCTGTGGCGGCGAT
AACATCGGCCGGAAGTCCGTGTACTGGTATCAGCAGAAGTCCGGCCAGGCTCCTGTGCTGGTCATCTACTAC
GACTCCGACCGGCCTTCTGGCATCCCTGAGAGATTCTCCGGCTCCAACTCCGGCAATACCGCCACACTGACC
ATCTCCAGAGTGGAAGCTGGCGACGAGGCCGACTACTACTGCCAAGTGTGGGACGGCTCCTCTGACCACTGG
GTTTTCGGCGGAGGCACCAAGCTGACAGTGCTGGGACAACCTAAGGCCGCTCCTTCTGTGACCCTGTTTCCT
Recombinant expression of bispecific antibody using common light chain N0128L with its native human Igλ leader sequence (v3-21 leader peptide MAWTALLLGLLSHCTGSVT SEQ ID NO: 519) resulted in clipping of the N terminal Ser to produce antibody in which the VL domain was identical to the sequence shown herein for N0325 VL domain. For use with alternative leader sequences in which the mature light chain polypeptide is produced by cleavage after the Ser, the light chain 0325 was generated in order to achieve the same mature product. 0325 omits the N terminal Ser residue of 0128L.
AREGYSSSSYYGMDV
GFTFNSYW
INQDGSEK
INQDGSEK
GFTFNSYW
GFTFNSYW
GFTFNSYW
GFTFNSYW
GFTFNSYW
GFTFNSYW
N1280H
ARDGYGSSSRCLQL
RYSFTSYY
INPKSGST
LNPKSGST
LNPKSGST
LNPKSGST
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1820977.5 | Dec 2018 | GB | national |
| 1906816.2 | May 2019 | GB | national |
| 1908190.0 | Jun 2019 | GB | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8062635 | Hattori | Nov 2011 | B2 |
| 9334331 | Igawa | May 2016 | B2 |
| 20030219441 | Thorpe | Nov 2003 | A1 |
| 20050058640 | Kerschbaumer | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20160222129 | Igawa | Aug 2016 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 3027018 | Feb 2018 | CA |
| 0119992 | Mar 2001 | WO |
| 2005025615 | Mar 2005 | WO |
| 2005035753 | Apr 2005 | WO |
| 2005035754 | Apr 2005 | WO |
| 2005035756 | Apr 2005 | WO |
| 2006109592 | Oct 2006 | WO |
| 2012067176 | May 2012 | WO |
| 2015194233 | Dec 2015 | WO |
| 2016047656 | Mar 2016 | WO |
| 2016166014 | Oct 2016 | WO |
| 2016171202 | Oct 2016 | WO |
| 2017110980 | Jun 2017 | WO |
| 2017136820 | Aug 2017 | WO |
| 2017200981 | Nov 2017 | WO |
| 2018021450 | Feb 2018 | WO |
| 2018047813 | Mar 2018 | WO |
| 2018098363 | May 2018 | WO |
| 2018141863 | Aug 2018 | WO |
| 2018145125 | Aug 2018 | WO |
| 2018234575 | Dec 2018 | WO |
| 2019065795 | Apr 2019 | WO |
| 2019096874 | May 2019 | WO |
| Entry |
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| 20200199250 A1 | Jun 2020 | US |
