{
  "patent_number": "US 10138293",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Roche Engineers Antibodies to Target Two Different Diseases Simultaneously",
  "original_title": "Bivalent, bispecific antibodies",
  "summary": "A method for creating a custom-engineered antibody that can grab onto two different targets at once, designed to help the immune system fight complex diseases.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a way to build a bispecific antibody, which is a protein designed to bind to two different antigens (targets) instead of the usual one. It achieves this by swapping the internal building blocks of the antibody's light and heavy chains in one of the two pairs. To ensure these two different pairs connect correctly rather than creating a jumbled mess, the patent uses a 'knob-into-hole' strategy. By modifying the CH3 domains of the heavy chains—adding a bulky amino acid to one (the knob) and a smaller one to the other (the hole)—the antibody is forced to assemble in the exact, functional configuration required.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover standard antibodies that only bind to a single type of antigen.",
    "Does not cover bispecific antibodies that do not use the specific domain-swapped architecture defined in claim 1.",
    "Does not cover methods of assembly that rely on techniques other than the described knob-into-hole CH3 domain modification.",
    "Does not cover the specific therapeutic use or clinical application of the antibodies, only the structural composition and production method."
  ],
  "filed": "2012-01-31",
  "granted": "2018-11-27",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Hoffmann La Roche Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/hoffmann-la-roche-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Christian Klein",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/christian-klein"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wolfgang Schaefer",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/wolfgang-schaefer"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 6,
  "tags": [
    "biotech",
    "pharmaceutical"
  ],
  "abstract": "The present invention relates to nucleic acids which encode the heavy chains and light chains of a novel domain exchanged, bivalent, bispecific antibody, and vectors comprising the same.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10138293/opdivo-nivolumab",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10138293/opdivo-nivolumab/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10138293",
  "relatedPatents": []
}