Institute Seminar February 17th at 12:00 on zoom: Jan Terje Andersen, Department of Pharmacology
Time: Wednesday, February 17th, 12 o’clock
Place: on zoom
Speaker: Professor Jan Terje Andersen, Department of Pharmacology, the Faculty of Medicine, UIO
Title: Design of biologics with better performance
Abstract:
The plasma half-life of the two most abundant proteins in blood, IgG and serum albumin, is roughly 3 weeks at average. This has made IgG the natural choice for design of antibody therapeutics, while albumin is increasingly used as a fusion partner. Remarkably, the plasma half-life of these unrelated proteins is prolonged by a common cellular receptor, FcRn. I will discuss how in-depth insights into the structural and cellular mechanisms that govern the functions of FcRn pave the way for design of novel albumin and antibody based biologics with improved binding and transport properties.
Despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19, more than 50 novel therapeutics were approved in 2020. This is the second highest total ever, and cancer products dominated the approval list. On the modality front, antibody-based therapeutics continue to broaden the landscape, and plasma half-life is a commercially competitive differentiator.
On behalf of the organizing commitee 2021:
Anette Weyergang
Tord Hompland
Helga B. Landsverk
Department of Radiation Biology
Links:
Home page of Jan Terje Andersen's research group:
The Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity and Homeostasis