Novel Approaches for the Generation of Human Antibody Therapeutics by IgG Hinge and Fc Engineering

The human immune system naturally makes antibodies to protect us from infection. By using new technologies such as genetic engineering, monoclonal antibody technology has revolutionised the treatment of some human diseases, however have failed in many intractable diseases. This thesis describes genetic engineering approaches to improve the function and efficacy of antibodies and shows that such approaches can generate new forms that have improved potency of over 100-fold. This paves the way for the next generation of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of intractable and incurable human diseases.