Enzymatic conjugation of polypeptides

• US 9,427,478 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2014
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innate Pharma, Paul Scherrer-Institut (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft)
• Original Assignee: Innate Pharma, Paul Scherrer-Institut (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft)
• Inventors: Bregeon, Delphine, Romagne, Franois, Dennler, Patrick, Belmant, Christian, Gauthier, Laurent, Fischer, Eliane, Schibli, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): HUYNH, PHUONG N
• Application Number:
  US14/582,040
• Publication Number:
  US 20150165064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 616 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/5517 condensed with five-membered rings having nitrogen as a ring hetero atom, e.g. imidazobenzodiazepines, triazolam
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 47/6801 Drug-antibody or immunoglobulin conjugates defined by the pharmacologically or therapeutically active agent
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 47/6803 Drugs conjugated to an antibody or immunoglobulin, e.g. cisplatin-antibody conjugates
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 47/6851 the antibody targeting a determinant of a tumour cell
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 47/6889 Conjugates wherein the antibody being the modifying agent and wherein the linker, binder or spacer confers particular properties to the conjugates, e.g. peptidic enzyme-labile linkers or acid-labile linkers, providing for an acid-labile immuno conjugate wherein the drug may be released from its antibody conjugated part in an acidic, e.g. tumoural or environment
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 35/00 Antineoplastic agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 35/02 specific for leukemia
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 16/30 from tumour cells
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 2317/24 containing regions, domains or residues from different species, e.g. chimeric, humanized or veneered
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 2317/40 characterized by post-translational modification

Abstract

The present application relates to methods for the enzymatic functionalization of immunoglobulins, in particular with drugs. Also disclosed herein are linking reagents, functionalized antibodies, pharmaceutical compositions, and method of treating disease and/or conditions.

Claims

1. A composition comprising a plurality of antibodies or antibody fragments, wherein the plurality of antibodies or antibody fragments share the same heavy and/or light chain amino acid sequence, and wherein at least 90% of the antibodies or antibody fragments in said composition have (m) functionalized acceptor glutamine residues (Q) per antibody or fragment, wherein m is an integer selected from 2 or 4, and wherein each of the functionalized acceptor glutamine residues has the structure of Formula IVc,

(Q)NHC-X-L-RR′

-L′

-V-Y-Z 

 

Formula IVc

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof,

wherein;

Q is a glutamine residue present within or appended to a constant region of the antibodies or antibody fragments;

C is a substituted alkyl chain, an unsubstituted alkyl chain, a substituted heteroalkyl chain, or an unsubstituted heteroalkyl chain;

X is NH, O, S, absent, or a bond;

L is independently absent, a bond or a continuation of a bond, or a carbon comprising framework of 1 to 200 atoms substituted at one or more atoms;

(RR′

) is an addition product between a reactive moiety R and a complementary reactive moiety R′

;

L′

is independently absent, a bond or a continuation of a bond, or a carbon comprising framework of 1 to 200 atoms substituted at one or more atoms;

V is independently absent, a bond or a continuation of a bond, a non-cleavable moiety or a conditionally-cleavable moiety;

Y is independently absent, a bond or a continuation of a bond, or a spacer system which is comprised of 1 or more spacers; and

Z is a pyrrolobenzodiazepine,

wherein the antibodies or antibody fragments specifically bind to a tumor antigen.

2. The composition of claim 1, wherein Z is a pyrrolobenzodiazepine dimer.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein Z is a C8/C8′

-linked pyrrolobenzodiazepine dimer.

4. The composition of claim 1, wherein said acceptor glutamine residue is flanked at position +2 by a non-aspartic acid residue.

5. The composition of claim 4, wherein said acceptor glutamine residue is flanked at position +2 by an arginine residue.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein said antibodies comprise human heavy and light chain constant regions, wherein the heavy chain constant regions comprise a N297Q substitution and a Q295X substitution, wherein X is any amino acid other than glutamine.

7. The composition of claim 1, wherein R or R′

is a moiety comprising a bioorthogonal-reaction compatible reactive group selected from the group consisting of an unprotected thiol, a protected thiol, an unprotected epoxide, a protected epoxide, an unprotected maleimide, a protected maleimide, an unprotected haloacetamide, a protected haloacetamide, an unprotected o-phoshenearomatic ester, a protected o-phoshenearomatic ester, an unprotected azide, a protected azide, an unprotected fulminate, a protected fulminate, an unprotected sulfonate ester, a protected sulfonate ester, an unprotected alkyne, a protected alkyne, an unprotected cyanide, a protected cyanide, an unprotected amino-thiol, a protected amino-thiol, an unprotected carbonyl, a protected carbonyl, an unprotected aldehyde, a protected aldehyde, a group capable of oxime formation, a group capable of hydrazine formation, a 1,2,4,5-tetrazine, a norbornene, a strained electronically activated alkene, an otherwise electronically activated alkene, a substituted cycloalkyne, an unsubstituted cycloalkyne, a reactive group which forms via bioorthogonal cycloaddition reaction a 1,3- or 1,5-disubstituted triazole, a diene or a strained alkene dienophile that can react via inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction, a protected amine, an unprotected amine, a carboxylic acid, an aldehyde, and an oxyamine.

8. The composition of claim 1, wherein R is an azide.

9. The composition claim 8, wherein R′

comprises a strained alkene.

10. The composition of claim 8, wherein R′

comprises a cyclooctyne.

11. The composition of claim 1, wherein less than 2% of the antibodies are present as soluble aggregates, as assessed using an aggregation assay.

12. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises less than 1% antibody fragments.

13. A pharmaceutical formulation comprising the composition of claim 1, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

14. The formulation of claim 13, wherein the formulation comprises trehalose and Polysorbate 80.

15. The composition of claim 1, wherein any carbon atom of the carbon chain of C is substituted with an alkoxy, hydroxyl, alkylcarbonyloxy, alkyl-S-, thiol, alkyl-C(O)S—

, amine, alkylamine, amide, or alkylamide.

16. The composition of claim 1, wherein the carbon chain of C has a chain length of 2 to 20 carbon atoms.

17. The composition of claim 1, wherein L is a carbon comprising framework which comprises a linear framework of 3 to 30 carbon atoms optionally substituted at one or more atoms.

18. The composition of claim 1, wherein L is a carbon comprising framework which is a linear hydrocarbon, a symmetrically or asymmetrically branched hydrocarbon, monosaccharide, other natural linear or branched oligomers (asymmetrically branched or symmetrically branched), or a dimer, trimer, or higher oligomer (linear, asymmetrically branched or symmetrically branched) resulting from any chain-growth or step-growth polymerization process.

19. The composition of claim 1, wherein L′

is a carbon comprising framework which comprises a linear framework of 3 to 30 carbon atoms optionally substituted at one or more atoms.

20. The composition of claim 1, wherein L′

is a carbon comprising framework which is a linear hydrocarbon, a symmetrically or asymmetrically branched hydrocarbon, monosaccharide, other natural linear or branched oligomers (asymmetrically branched or symmetrically branched), or a dimer, trimer, or higher oligomer (linear, asymmetrically branched or symmetrically branched) resulting from any chain-growth or step-growth polymerization process.

21. A composition comprising a plurality of antibodies or antibody fragments wherein the plurality of antibodies or antibody fragments share the same heavy and/or light chain amino acid sequence, and wherein at least 90% of the antibodies or antibody fragments in said composition have (m) functionalized acceptor glutamine residues (Q) per antibody or fragment, wherein m is an integer selected from 2 or 4, wherein each of the functionalized acceptor glutamine residues has the structure:

(Q)-L″

-RR′

-Y-Z

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof,

wherein;

Q is a glutamine residue present within or appended to a constant region of the antibodies or antibody fragments;

L″

is a lysine-based linker in which the nitrogen atom is covalently bonded to the y carbon of Q as a secondary amine;

(RR′

) is an addition product between a reactive moiety R and a complementary reactive moiety R′

;

Y is a spacer system; and

Z is a pyrrolobenzodiazepine,

wherein the antibodies or antibody fragments specifically bind to a tumor antigen.