Fully Human Antibody Production Technology
“Human antibodies” are those derived from human immune system. When antibodies produced by mice or rabbits are used in humans, they are effective against antigens in the first-dose. But from the second-dose onwards those antibodies are recognized by the human immune system as foreign antigens and eliminated immediately after dosing. Thus, it is known that such animal antibodies are not sufficiently effective for humans in the long-term. Hence we focused on the establishment of the Fully Human Antibody Production Technology, which produces antibodies equivalent to those of humans by animals. And eventually, we succeeded in the creation of the KM Mouse technology that supports therapeutic antibody production.
HAC Technology and KM Mouse
In previous gene transfer methods, the large size of human antibody genes limited them to partial injection only, meaning that it was impossible to transfer the same diversity of antibodies as existent in human bodies. However, Kyowa Hakko Kirin pioneered an epochal technique (Human Artificial Chromosome) of transferring a fragment of a human chromosome containing a very large cluster of genes into a mouse. By fusing this technique with the human antibody producing technology of Medarex Inc. (currently Bristol-Myers Squibb), the Human Antibody Producing Mouse (KM Mouse) was created. This technology is considered as the most advanced technology in this field.
By doing so we have been able to create antibody-producing mice that can generate fully human antibodies with the same diversity as in humans, opening the doors to continued investment leading to actual medical products utilizing this technology.
- * Reprint from Nature Biotechnology 20 and 889-894,2002
About Hematech
Hematech, Inc., U.S. subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kirin, successfully generated human-antibody producing bovine through combination of Kyowa Hakko Kirin’s HAC (human artificial chromosome) technology and gene targeting technology with Hematech’s bovine cloning technology. These bovine produce fully human antibodies, and by immunizing them with antigens, it is expected to generate a variety of antibodies, which could be a source of unique therapeutic antibodies.
(Hematech, Inc. http://www.hematech.com/)
