Affibody molecules for cancer imaging made by chemical synthesis
Affibody AB announced that Cancer Research, the official publication of American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), has published an article demonstrating excellent visualization of HER2-expressing tumors using a chemically produced Affibody® molecule.
The article, entitled "Synthetic Affibody Molecules: A Novel Class of Affinity Ligands for Molecular Imaging of HER2-Expressing Malignant Tumors", by A. Orlova and co-workers (Cancer Research, Volume 67) is also featured on the cover page. A synthetic version of a HER2-specific Affibody® molecule is demonstrated to supersede the corresponding molecule obtained by bacterial production. The Affibody® molecule including a chelating group was produced in a single-process by peptide synthesis, resulting in a well defined and very homogeneous drug preparation. The chelating group was used for site-specific labeling of the Affibody® molecule with indium-111. Pre-clinical characterization showed specific tumor targeting, rapid biodistribution and blood clearance, as well as high contrast gamma camera imaging already 1 hour after injection.
Molecular imaging of drug targets and biomarkers, such as HER2, may facilitate the development and clinical use of individualized treatments using targeted therapeutics. In patients, this radiopharmaceutical holds promise not only to localize tumors but also to characterize them as HER2-positive, which can influence treatment regimes.
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