A New Approach to the Chemical Modification of Antibodies via Maleimide Bridging of Disulfides

随着科学家们将注意力转向对自然自身防御机制的部分操纵，我们正在进入下一代治疗方法发展的极其激动人心的时期；抗体。抗体现在可以在实验室设计，针对多种疾病，包括癌症和传染病。它们代表了增长最快的一类治疗药物，市场价值估计在500亿美元左右。然而，目前该领域的一个限制因素是缺乏可靠的化学方法来修饰和优化抗体的性质。我们在这里提议举例说明一类新的化学试剂，它将首次允许对抗体进行高效修饰。这一例子将使我们能够与制药和生物技术公司建立伙伴关系，以促进未来基于抗体的治疗方法的优化。

We are entering extremely exciting times in the development of the next generation of therapeutics, as scientists have turned their attention to the manipulation of part of nature's own defense mechanism; antibodies. Antibodies can now be designed in the lab to target a variety of diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases. They represent the fastest growing class of therapeutics, with a market value estimated to be around $50 billion. Currently however, a limiting factor in the area is the lack of reliable chemical methods that will allow the modification and optimisation of the properties of antibodies. We are proposing here to exemplify a new class of chemical reagents that will allow the highly effective modification of antibodies for the first time. This exemplification will enable us to establish partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to facilitate the optimisation of future antibody-based therapeutics.