Antibody Drug Early Discovery

One programme, four interlocking modules

Early discovery rarely fails at a single step — it fails between steps. We run discovery, characterisation, humanisation and residue analysis under one protocol, so sequence, affinity and developability data stay consistent from the first ELISA plate to the final candidate.

1.1 Discovery

Murine monoclonal antibody discovery

Antigen immunisation → cell fusion → hybridoma banking → antibody preparation → affinity verification, on a next-generation high-efficiency hybridoma platform.

1.2 Characterisation

Antibody characterisation

Variable-region sequencing and IMGT analysis, plus protein and cell affinity screening and determination by ELISA and cCLIA.

1.3 Humanisation

Murine antibody humanisation

Proprietary AI-model design, expression and verification — humanised candidates with humanness >90% and affinity no lower than the parent murine antibody.

1.4 Key residues

Key residue analysis

Epitope and CDR key residue mapping by ELISA — the evidence base for epitope claims and for freedom-to-operate work.

1.1

Murine monoclonal antibody discovery

Antigen immunisation / cell fusion / hybridoma banking / antibody preparation / affinity verification.

Deliverable	Acceptance standard	Timeline
Hybridoma cell lines	5–500 lines	45–55 days
Monoclonal antibody sample	0.1 mg	45–55 days
Protein affinity determination	ELISA EC₅₀	45–55 days
Hybridoma antibody expression & preparation	5 mg	7 days from client instruction

Screening gate: hybridoma clones are selected on significant binding to the target antigen by ELISA.
Cell line quality: viability >80% (trypan blue exclusion cell counting), 2 cryovials per line.
Antibody sample quality: SDS-PAGE (reduced) >90%, SEC-HPLC >90%; where expression is included, endotoxin <1 EU/mg.
Protein affinity: reported as a concentration–binding curve with EC₅₀.
Client provides: target protein — to be ready before the study starts, or we can prepare it on your behalf.

1.2

Antibody characterisation

Variable-region sequences are determined by Sanger sequencing — precise and reliable, covering the full variable region including the signal peptide — and analysed in the IMGT system for V-gene rearrangement, CDR regions and point mutations. Every sequence is transfection-expressed to confirm functional activity.

Item	Method	Timeline
Variable-region sequencing and analysis	Sanger + IMGT	3–4 days
Protein affinity screening	ELISA	3–4 days
Protein affinity determination	ELISA	3–4 days
Cell affinity screening	cCLIA	3–4 days
Cell affinity determination	cCLIA	3–4 days

Cell affinity screening: high-sensitivity cell chemiluminescence (cCLIA); single-point measurement of supernatant binding to the target cells, reported as RLU.
Cell affinity determination: multi-point measurement of the purified antibody against the target cells, reported as a concentration–binding curve with EC₅₀.
Client provides: target protein / cells, and the test supernatant or purified antibody — ready before the study starts, or prepared by us on your behalf.

1.3

Murine antibody humanisation

Variable-region sequences from hybridoma-derived murine monoclonal antibodies are humanised to produce humanised antibodies with performance comparable to the parent murine antibody.

Item	Method	Timeline
Antibody humanisation	Proprietary AI model	14 days

Method: humanisation designed with a leading proprietary AI model.
Process: murine sequence determination → humanised sequence design → expression and preparation → performance verification.
Acceptance criteria: at least one humanised antibody with affinity no lower than the parent murine antibody by ELISA (concentration–binding curve with EC₅₀); humanness >90%; SDS-PAGE (reduced) >90%; SEC-HPLC >90%; endotoxin <1 EU/mg.
Deliverables: humanised variable-region sequences for 2–3 candidates; 1 mg of humanised antibody per candidate.

1.4

Key residue analysis

Epitope and CDR key residues are resolved by ELISA — the evidence base for epitope characterisation and for downstream engineering decisions.

Item	Method	Timeline
Epitope key residues	ELISA	28 days
CDR key residues	ELISA	21 days per site

Epitope key residues: assessed by ELISA — whether the antibody binds the key epitope amino acids.
CDR key residues: assessed by ELISA — whether site-mutated antibodies still bind the target antigen.

Workflow — from antigen to candidate molecule

Each programme runs against a documented sequence of stages, so you always know what is happening, what will be delivered, and when.

Murine monoclonal antibody discovery

45–55 days

1

Antigen immunisation

Tailored immunisation strategy per target

2

Cell fusion

Next-generation high-efficiency hybridoma platform

3

Hybridoma banking

Clone picking and expansion

4

Antibody preparation

Small-scale production per clone

5

Affinity verification

ELISA against target antigen

6

Variable-region sequencing

Sanger + IMGT V-gene / CDR analysis

7

Candidate delivery

Clones, sequences & affinity data

Screening gate: hybridoma clones are selected on significant binding to the target antigen by ELISA. Humanisation (14 days), epitope key residue analysis (28 days) and CDR key residue analysis (21 days per site) can be added downstream.

One-stop programme: expression + affinity evaluation

10–14 days

P1

Gene synthesis & vector build

Variable-region synthesis → vector → plasmid

P2

Transfection & supernatant

HEK293/CHO transfection → culture → harvest

P3

Affinity testing

Supernatant quantitation → protein / cell affinity

P4

Data analysis & delivery

Curve fitting → EC₅₀ → data package

Deliverables: expression supernatant, supernatant antibody concentration, fitted concentration–binding curves and EC₅₀ values. Target protein and target cells are to be prepared before the study begins — or we can prepare them on your behalf.

A single quality standard, applied to every deliverable

Purity, monomer content, endotoxin and affinity are tested against defined acceptance criteria — and reported, not assumed.

Test item	Acceptance criterion	Method
Antibody purity (reduced)	> 90%	SDS-PAGE
Antibody monomer purity	> 90%	SEC-HPLC
Endotoxin	< 1 EU/mg	Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL)
Recombinant protein purity	> 90%	SDS-PAGE / SEC-HPLC
Supernatant antibody concentration	Quantitative report	Quantitative assay
Affinity	EC₅₀ determination	Concentration–binding curve fitting

One programme, four interlocking modules

Murine monoclonal antibody discovery

Antibody characterisation

Murine antibody humanisation

Key residue analysis

Murine monoclonal antibody discovery

Antibody characterisation

Murine antibody humanisation

Key residue analysis

Workflow — from antigen to candidate molecule

Murine monoclonal antibody discovery

Antigen immunisation

Cell fusion

Hybridoma banking

Antibody preparation

Affinity verification

Variable-region sequencing

Candidate delivery

One-stop programme: expression + affinity evaluation

Gene synthesis & vector build

Transfection & supernatant

Affinity testing

Data analysis & delivery

A single quality standard, applied to every deliverable

Tell us about your target — we will come back with a scope and a timeline