Groundbreaking Technologies

When it comes to technological breakthroughs in biotech research, MedImmune is a visionary company that is helping to shape the industry. We have successfully discovered, developed, and applied an impressive range of innovative technologies, including antibody engineering, cell culture production, live viral vaccines, reverse genetics, and virus-like particle technology. The integration of MedImmune with Cambridge Antibody Technology and other biologics work being done within AstraZeneca in 2007 brought together a broad suite of antibody, protein generation, and optimization tools.

Monoclonal antibodies

Found naturally in the human immune system, antibodies are proteins produced in response to antigens. These highly specific molecules bind strongly to their target antigen.

All antibodies share the same basic structure. They are large "Y" shaped molecules, comprising two chains, a "heavy" chain and a "light" chain. The tips of the forked area, or variable region that come into contact with the antigen are highly variable in structure, enabling the antibody to be specific for a particular antigen.

Antibody-based therapeutics mimic and harness the body's own immune system and act by utilizing their acute specificity for their target antigen. At MedImmune, antibody drugs are generated using three core technologies:

  • Phage display
  • Ribosome display
  • VelocImmune® (human monoclonal antibody-producing mice)*

Antibodies generated by these three techniques are currently produced from a single clone of cells, and are therefore called monoclonal antibodies. The majority of approved monoclonal antibodies marketed today are humanized and chimeric monoclonal antibodies. However, human monoclonal antibodies which are less likely to cause adverse immunological responses in patients now form the largest group in research and development pipelines and are expected to be the fastest growing segment of antibody therapeutics in the future.

*Regeneron

Vaccines

MedImmune has the expertise to address target diseases with a wide variety of vaccine technologies. We are instrumental in the discovery and development of these cutting-edge biologics.

Live attenuated vaccine
MedImmune has developed a prudent and comprehensive strategy to apply its unique live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) technology to the development of pandemic vaccines, prioritizing the subtypes based on current epidemiology.

Seasonal LAIV attributes suggest that a pandemic LAIV formulation may be an important component of pandemic preparedness for both industrialized nations and developing countries.

Reverse genetics
Reverse genetics is a method by which viruses such as influenza can be generated from segments of DNA. Reverse genetics can be particularly useful in the development of pandemic vaccines because the process does not require manufacturers to work directly with potentially highly infectious strains such as H5N1, rather only with segments of the virus's genome. Reverse genetics is also being applied in the development of seasonal influenza vaccines.

Viral vectored vaccines
Advances in molecular virology have facilitated an understanding of the regulation of viral replication, gene expression and molecular pathogenesis. At the same time, this understanding has enabled the development of novel viral vectors useful for vaccination. A variety of such vectors are now being advanced in preclinical and clinical studies.

Virus-like particles
Virus-like particles (VLPs) consist of viral protein(s) derived from the structural proteins of a virus. In some cases these proteins are embedded within a lipid bilayer. These particles resemble the virus from which they were derived, but lack viral nucleic acid, meaning that they are not infectious. The VLPs used as vaccines are often very effective at eliciting both T-cell and B-cell immune responses. The human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccines are the first VLP-based vaccines approved by the FDA.

Subunit vaccines
Subunit vaccines contain purified antigens rather than whole organisms. These vaccines are not infectious, so they can be given to immunosuppressed people, and they are less likely to induce unfavorable immune reactions that may cause side effects.

Next generation proteins

As a forward-thinking company, we are constantly exploring alternative technologies to discover compounds effective against new and challenging therapeutic targets.

While the majority of MedImmune's current drug projects are based on either antibody or vaccine technology, we have a dedicated team that works on next generation proteins, collaborating with other biotechnology companies and academic institutions.

Some of the approaches include:

  • Design and generation of very small, stable, antibody-like scaffolds that offer new routes of administration
  • Engineering of antibodies into multispecific compounds capable of interacting with several targets simultaneously
  • Drug complex G-protein coupled receptors, ion channels and intracellular protein-protein interactions
  • Use of protein-digesting enzymes to remove a specific target of interest
  • Exploring the potential of developing RNA inhibitor (RNAi)-based therapeutics and improved delivery methods
  • Developing peptides as a drug class
  • Engineering or selecting antibodies for their ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, or to be delivered by inhalation

In all of these efforts we are guided by the target selection teams of our five key therapy areas so that we can ensure that technical success will have the potential to result in a meaningful product with substantial patient benefit.