Objective
Synthetic human antibody repertoires are an important source of therapeutics; however, antibodies often exhibit undesirable developability liabilities, such as low stability, solubility, and polyreactivity, that limit their potential as drug candidates. CADABRE will design next-generation repertoires comprising billions of diverse human antibodies that exhibit excellent developability properties, with the following aims:
1. Repertoire design: We will use our newly developed combinatorial Rosetta atomistic design paradigm to select human germline genes and design H3 multipoint mutants. These will combine into billions of diverse, low-energy, and foldable full-length antibody variable domains for expression in a phage-displayed repertoire. The repertoires will comprise hundreds of possible germline gene combinations, increasing the structural diversity relative to existing repertoires and the odds of obtaining diverse antibodies toward any antigen.
2. Learning developability principles: High-throughput screening will identify heat-stable antibodies that are not polyreactive. Data from deep sequencing will be used to train an AI-based predictor of these properties that will be used to improve the repertoire and rank antibody candidates. We will iterate repertoire design, screening, and learning until we converge on a repertoire that exhibits excellent properties.
3. Verifying relevance to therapeutic discovery: We will select antibodies that target antigens that represent relevant drug targets, verifying that the antibodies exhibit high stability, affinity, and developability.
CADABRE combines the strengths of our protein-design methods (generating stable antibodies) and phage-display screening (unbiased binder selection). It will deepen our understanding of the biophysical underpinnings of antibody developability, develop new methods for ranking drug candidates, and generate new repertoires that will accelerate the discovery of life-saving therapeutic antibodies.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
7610001 Rehovot
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.