Integral Molecular Announces Best-In-Class Antibodies Against Complex Oncology Target Claudin 18.2

Philadelphia, PA /PRNewswire/ - Integral Molecular, the leader in discovering antibodies against multipass membrane proteins, announces fully optimized, high-affinity lead monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2), a structurally complex oncology target overexpressed on numerous solid tumors. The CLDN18.2 antibodies discovered using the company's MPS antibody discovery platform are ready to progress towards preclinical studies and are completely humanized, unlike the Phase 3 clinical benchmark.

"The structural complexity of CLDN18.2 and the widespread expression of closely related family members has made discovery of highly specific antibodies against CLDN18.2 challenging," said Ross Chambers, VP of Antibody Discovery. "Our exquisitely specific, picomolar affinity lead candidates show stronger binding than the most advanced clinical antibody and are a testament to the ability of our platform to yield antibodies against difficult targets."

Integral Molecular's MPS platform combines multiple proprietary technologies that enable antibody discovery against otherwise intractable targets. This includes Lipoparticles to present complex antigens for immunization and phage panning, immunization of divergent species and Humanized Chicken Antibody Technology (hCAT), which delivers simultaneous humanization and affinity maturation.

Integral Molecular showcased its CLDN18.2 MAbs at the virtual PEGS Europe (Protein & Antibody Engineering Summit) earlier this month. CLDN18.2 is expressed in multiple cancers, including lung, pancreatic and esophageal cancers, but shows limited expression in healthy adult tissue. The company is currently isolating MAbs against dozens of membrane protein targets for internal and external discovery partners.

About Integral Molecular
Integral Molecular (www.integralmolecular.com) is the industry leader in discovering and characterizing therapeutic antibodies against membrane proteins, an important group of drug targets found on the surfaces of cells and viruses. Integral Molecular's technologies have been integrated into the drug discovery pipelines of over 400 biotech and pharmaceutical companies to help discover new therapies for cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and viral threats such as SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Zika, and dengue virus.