IAM-IT

The objective of the joint laboratory for the Engineering of Innovative Monoclonal Antibodies for Therapeutic Use "Ingénierie des Anticorps Monoclonaux Innovants à visée thérapeutique (IAM-IT)" is to develop new drug approaches and diagnostic or research tools, based on monoclonal antibodies generated by an innovative DNA immunization approach, set up jointly by the INSERM UMR1231 academic laboratory of the University of Burgundy Franche-Comté (UBFC) and the company COVALAB. This innovation, supported by the Burgundy Franche-Comté Region and BPI, through a Young Researcher Entrepreneur funding and a proof of concept support, respectively, has allowed us to develop monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with anti-tumor properties, which are at the heart of the problems of the INSERM Molecular Medicine translational research center (CTM) in Dijon. The humanization of the candidate mAb is under development by Covalab and pre-clinical studies are envisaged in the framework of this project. The technological advance developed through this collaboration has recently been reinforced by the development of antibodies targeting the SARS-Cov-2 viral proteins responsible for COVID, with pharmacological properties. The technological approach at the heart of the project offers 1) the possibility to rapidly develop antibodies recognizing proteins of interest in their natural conformation, also called three-dimensional, and only in this form, 2) to develop companion tests, allowing on the one hand to finely and rapidly specify interactions of the antibody with its target and 3) to propose diagnostic tools that could be applied, for example, to the monitoring of biological samples from patients, to the selection of therapeutic antibodies resistant to mutations of the target protein or to map the epitopes recognized by therapeutic antibodies. In the current pandemic context, this technology would allow the selection of therapeutic antibodies resistant to SARS-COV2 mutants, for example. The emergence and growth of therapeutic immunotherapy approaches opens up important prospects for innovation, which, together with the MTC, would make it possible to perpetuate the joint laboratory for the benefit of the CTM and COVALAB, well beyond the regional microenvironment of UBFC. The joint research program will draw on the recognized skills of the CTM in translational research and technology development, and of COVALAB for its expertise in antibody engineering and commercialization.