Concordia biochemist David Kwan is leading a new research partnership supported by the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) that seeks to improve the effectiveness of antibody-based cancer therapies. The $500,000 project brings together Concordia, Montreal-based Paraza Pharma and New Zealand-based GlycoSyn to enhance how antibody drugs trigger the body's immune response.
Toward a stronger immune response
Antibody drugs are an important class of cancer treatments. They work by recognizing specific markers on cancer cells and signalling the immune system to eliminate them. These antibodies are manufactured using living cells, which can introduce chemical modifications that may reduce a drug's potency.
Kwan and his collaborators are targeting FUT8, an enzyme in these production cells that adds a specific sugar tag known to dampen the immune response.
"If we can stop the cells from putting this modification on the antibody, the resulting drug can generate a stronger immune response," Kwan explains.
The project uses high-throughput robotics at Concordia's Centre for Applied Synthetic Biology, including the Foundry platform, to screen tens of thousands of small molecules. The goal is to identify compounds that block FUT8 activity during antibody manufacturing, allowing companies to produce more effective cancer therapeutics.
Preparing compounds for real-world use
Once promising inhibitors are found, Kwan's team will continue development and optimization together with Paraza. GlycoSyn will validate the compounds for use in large-scale glycoprotein production and support the synthesis required for commercial applications.
"The hope is that this becomes a tool the biopharmaceutical industry can use to produce more effective anti-cancer antibody drugs," Kwan says.
CQDM, which supports collaborative research in the biopharmaceutical sector, facilitated the partnership.
Learn more about Concordia's Centre for Applied Synthetic Biology.
