Antibody Center of Excellence
Genmab's antibodies are developed at our state-of-the-art laboratories located in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Our team of highly experienced and talented scientists is dedicated to evaluating new disease targets based on stringent criteria. This discovery team uses their expertise to characterize new targets and assess new indications for known targets. To ensure we select the best possible antibody candidates to become potential products, Genmab employs a variety of innovative techniques and processes.
Genmab has industrialized our technology platform to generate monoclonal antibodies by setting up a sophisticated system to generate, select, produce and evaluate human antibody therapeutics. We use electrofusion to increase production of hybridomas at a rate over 20 times greater than traditional methods. We use novel robotics to rapidly select antibody producing hybridomas and culture cells in a well controlled and standardized manner. We have furthermore optimized antibody screening and characterization methods.
Genmab's Antibody Discovery Engine
Two of the high tech instruments Genmab employs to help select the best product candidates are the micrOTOF and Cello machines.
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Featuring excellent resolution and accuracy, the micrOTOF provides powerful exact mass measurements of large proteins such as antibodies, by combining time-of-flight technology with innovative detection technologies. Antibodies enter the micrOTOF via a needle tip and are present in liquid drops. An electrical charge is added to the molecules in the liquid when they leave the needle tip. The liquid is vaporized and after complete evaporation, the positively charged antibodies enter the time of flight tube of the mass spectrometer. With high speed they then rush onto a sensitive plate called the detector. The time of flight of the antibodies is measured and the mass of the antibody can be very precisely determined. |
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Cello |
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Antibodies with the proper characteristics need to be selected in a process known as lead clone selection. To this end, a type of immune cell called B cells are isolated and fused with a special type of fusion partner, resulting in hybridoma cells that can produce antibodies for indefinite periods of time. To select the hybridoma cell that produces antibodies with the desired characteristics, cells are plated out in different wells. These plates are then moved to the Cello.
The Cello is a high-throughput, fully integrated imaging and culture system which can handle very large hybridoma libraries. It can function day and night, seven days a week, and has optimal process qualities. In the Cello, cells grow in wells and produce significant amounts of antibodies in a highly controlled manner. These antibodies are then ready to be tested for their specificity and functional characteristics.
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