Blocking The Road: Antibodies And Epitope Claims

Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal

Antibodies are proteins produced in nature by the immune system and used frequently in biologic therapies for their ability to bind and alter signaling pathways involved in various diseases such as cancer, infection, and inflammation. Antibodies recognize particular target agents, called "antigens," which are bound via variable domains at the end of the antibody. The specific portion of an antigen bound by an antibody is referred to as an "epitope." Two antibodies that bind the same or similar epitopes may compete for binding, meaning the presence of the first antibody bound to the antigen prevents the second antibody from accessing and binding its epitope on the same antigen.