Integral Molecular Celebrates Epitope Mapping Milestone of 1,000 Epitopes

Integral Molecular is a trusted partner to numerous companies who require antibody epitope data for lead selection based on mechanism of action, or for value enhancement through intellectual property. Integral Molecular has been awarded more than $20 million from the NIH to map and understand the epitopes for high-priority pathogenic viruses, resulting in over 40 publications in Cell, Nature, PNAS, and other high-profile journals.

Integral Molecular’s proprietary Shotgun Mutagenesis Epitope Mapping technology is the only high-throughput method available for mapping conformational epitopes at amino-acid resolution, having a success rate of >95%, even for complex targets. Shotgun Mutagenesis epitope mapping results have been used in 25 patents, and 7 antibodies mapped by Integral Molecular have entered clinical trials.

“As an antibody discovery company, we understand the need for the detailed characterization and protection of antibody assets,” says Benjamin Doranz, President and CEO of Integral Molecular. “Our targets are structurally complex and difficult to map using standard techniques. To fulfill our needs, we developed a high-throughput method of epitope mapping at the amino-acid level, which has now been widely adopted throughout industry.”

The patent landscape for antibodies has become increasingly complex. Epitope data support antibody patents by demonstrating antibody novelty, differentiating from prior art, and supporting the patent’s written description requirement. Benjamin Doranz shares insights on the value of epitope mapping in a panel discussion on functional antibody claims at the BIO International Convention in June. A recent publication co-authored by Dr. Doranz and colleagues, entitled “Enhancing antibody patent protection using epitope mapping information,” was recently published in the journal mAbs (Deng et al., 2018).

About Integral Molecular

Integral Molecular (www.integralmolecular.com) is the industry leader in membrane protein antibody discovery, with a pipeline of therapeutic antibodies against GPCRs, ion channels, transporters and immuno-oncology targets. Built on the company’s extensive experience optimizing membrane proteins, this platform enables the isolation, characterization, and engineering of MAbs against otherwise intractable targets. Integral Molecular discovers antibodies for partners in parallel with independent work developing antibodies for licensing. The company currently has therapeutic programs focused on cancer, pain, immunity, and metabolic disorders.

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