Vaccinex's proprietary ACTIVMAb® antibody discovery technology allows for the direct selection of high-affinity, fully human antibodies that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to identify with other systems. The company uses two separate discovery platforms to select antibodies, one based on membrane-bound antibody expression and one employing secreted antibodies. Each platform allows for de novo selection or full humanization of existing non-human antibodies.

Distinguishing characteristics of Vaccinex's antibody discovery technology include the use of a unique vaccinia virus-based vector to express antibodies in mammalian cells and the ability to achieve extremely high levels of combinatorial diversity of immunoglobulin heavy and light chains. The result is an increased likelihood of identifying antibodies with high-affinity, high specificity, and the desired function. Our technology to construct large cDNA libraries using vaccinia vectors is supported by three issued U.S. patents (#6,706,477, #6,800,442, and #6,872,518) and the expertise and know-how developed in over ten years of vaccinia vector research.

Antibody Technology Advantages

• Fully Human Antibodies

Lower chance of immune rejection of therapeutics than may be the case for humanized or murine antibodies

• Broad Target Range

Generate antibodies that would be difficult or impossible to identify with other systems. Examples: Highly conserved proteins and multi-pass membrane receptors

• Conversion of Non-human Antibodies

Researchers have identified numerous non-human antibodies. Unlike other systems, our technology can change those antibodies into 100% human antibodies while retaining desired epitope specificity and function.

• No Complex Re-engineering Required

Engineering can take time and create unplanned difficulties in production. Vaccinex directly expresses and selects complete IgG antibodies during discovery