Entries by Thomas Gabrielczyk

Discovering Antigen-specific Monoclonal Antibodies using Single B Cell Screening

Since the approval of Orthoclone OKT3 in 1986, more than 100 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat a variety of diseases ranging from autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer [1-2]. In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it´s crucial that these biologics are developed rapidly and efficiently. Among various antibody discovery approaches, including hybridoma technology, single B cell screening is a powerful and efficient strategy for generating antigen-specific mAbs based on the direct amplification of the VH and VL regions encoding genes from single B cells [3-4]. Notably, single B cell screening has various advantages that include maintaining the naïve VH/VL pairing, requiring relatively few cells, and the ability to discover antibodies against challenging targets.

Agomab extenses Series B with USD40m Bringing Total Amount to USD114m

Agomab Therapeutics NV from Ghent, Belgium, today announced it has extended its Series B financing round with an additional close of $40.5 million (€38.4 million), bringing the total Series B amount raised to $114 million. Pfizer led the extension with an investment through its Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative.