Bio-Rad Laboratories has announced the publication of a study in Nature Communications demonstrating the utility of its SpyLock technology for rapid generation and screening of bispecific antibodies. The research, titled “Engineered Reversible Inhibition of SpyCatcher Reactivity Enables Rapid Generation of Bispecific Antibodies”, highlights a novel method to modify the functional activity of SpyCatcher protein, potentially revolutionising the development process for bispecific antibodies.

Innovative protein engineering

The study describes the successful engineering of functional control into SpyCatcher protein, resulting in a reversibly inhibitable mutant called SpyLock (SL). This mutant is fused to regular SpyCatcher (SC) to create BiLockCatcher protein, an SL-SC dimer that offers an accelerated route to bispecific antibody generation. Bio-Rad’s SpyLock technology, which forms the basis of their new rapid bispecific generation and screening service, allows for the creation of bispecific antibodies in as little as 90 minutes. This service is part of Bio-Rad’s Pioneer™ Antibody Discovery Platform, which includes a fully human synthetic phage display library with over 200 billion unique sequences.

John Cardone, Marketing Manager of Custom Antibodies at Bio-Rad, commented on the significance of the technology: “Our SpyLock strategy generates bispecific antibodies in a single, scalable format, facilitating the screening of a large number of antibody combinations. The service streamlines and accelerates the generation of bispecific antibodies in as a little as 90 minutes.”

Implications for therapeutic development

The SpyLock technology significantly expands the toolbox for modular construction of antibodies based on the SpyTag/SpyCatcher protein ligation system. This advancement could potentially accelerate the development of bispecific antibodies, which have shown promising therapeutic potential in various fields of medicine.

By enabling rapid prototyping and high-throughput screening, SpyLock technology may help researchers more quickly identify effective antibody combinations for drug development, potentially speeding up the process of bringing new bispecific antibody therapies to patients.

Digital issue: Please click here for more information