Characteristics of therapeutic antibodies
Expectations for higher efficacy and fewer side effects
Conventional drugs are low molecular weight drugs manufactured by chemical synthesis, which frequently act against items other than the target, sometimes causing unexpected side effects.
Meanwhile, therapeutic antibodies are high molecular weight biopharmaceuticals obtained by culturing microorganisms and animal cells through genetic engineering. Because of high specificity, target identification of the drug becomes clear, and higher efficacy and fewer side effects can be expected.
Advantages of therapeutic antibodies
With clearer targets, higher efficacy and fewer side effects for cancers and intractable diseases can be expected.
With higher specificity for targets, pinpointed attacks against targets such as cancer cells are possible, which increases the expectation for higher efficacy and fewer side effects.
Infrequent dosage
Due to the prolonged half-life in blood, the effect of a single dose could be expected to last for a long time.
| Therapeutic antibodies | Low molecular weight drugs | |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular weight | Very large | Small |
| Formulation | Mainly injection | Mainly tablets |
| Manufacturing method | Mainly by cell engineering | Mainly chemical synthesis |
| Lasting effect that can be expected with a single dose | Long | Short |
The difference in the molecular weight of therapeutic antibodies and conventional drugs*
The molecular weight of a therapeutic antibody is about 200 times that of a low molecular weight drug.
The difference in molecular weight is, for example, such as the difference between a whale and a tuna fish.
The molecular weight is also believed to be related to how long the drug stays in the system.