NEW TECHNIQUES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THERAPEUTIC RECOMBINANT HUMAN MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES

Hybridoma technology has enabled the production of large quantities of murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed to specific antigens. Ho wever, the therapeutic usefulness of these reagents in humans has been limited by the unwanted immune response induced in patients. Although human mAbs are difficult to obtain with conventional techniques, muri ne mAbs can be 'humanised' and tailored to the particular clinical app lication by antibody engineering. Human antibody fragments can be deri ved from repertoires of associated immunoglobulin heavy and light chai ns displayed on the surface of bacteriophages, and are readily diversi fied by random point mutation or by chain shuffling. Here we review st rategies in the development of therapeutic recombinant human antibodie s.