Biotherapeutics Development

SEEK TO CURE

The Biotherapeutics Development Group is focused on the discovery of novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and elucidating key signaling pathways regulating stem cell fates. Notably, results obtained from in vitro studies have shown that these mAbs specifically bind and kill cancer cells of the breast, ovarian, kidney, colorectal and liver tumour types. At present, we are evaluating these candidate mAbs for their in vivo efficacy in tumour xenograft models. Besides therapeutic applications, our mAbs hold potential in cell therapy, disease diagnostics and in vivo imaging.

We have also established an Antibody Discovery Platform (ADP) which facilitates the generation of novel cytotoxic mAbs toward cell surface markers on stem cells and cancer cells. This leveraged on the expertise previously developed for a panel of cytotoxic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) toward human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for the purpose of eliminating residual teratoma-forming PSCs after differentiation.

Keeping in mind that an antibody is useful in research and industry when it can be efficiently produced in large quantities, other capabilities within BTI, such as the Cell Line Development and Downstream Processing groups, have proven invaluable in aiding us with several technologies which include cell enrichment and bioprocessing of our mAbs. Furthermore, characterization of antigen targets is achieved with a variety of proteomics and glycomics tools, and expertise provided by the Analytical Science & Technology groups.

The overarching goal of our studies is thus two-fold: to develop and characterize novel cytotoxic mAbs which recognize surface antigens for eliminating stem cells and cancer cells in the clinical setting, and to elucidate stem cell regulation as well as disease biology at the molecular level. We are hopeful that our active ongoing collaborations with fellow academics, clinicians, as well as several industry players, would enable the smooth transition of these mAbs toward future clinical applications.

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PEOPLE

Dr Andre Choo2

Dr. Andre Choo

andre_choo@bti.a-star.edu.sg
Deputy Executive Director
Institute Scientist
Director, Antibody Discovery

PhD in Biological Science (2002), University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Research Focus/Interests

  • Generation and characterization of novel anti-glycan mAbs to cell surface markers on stem cells, progenitor cells and cancer cells
  • Development of a comprehensive Antibody Discovery Platform to move candidate mAbs from the bench to potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications
  • Unravel the underlying mechanism of oncotic cell killing by mAbs
  • Elucidating key signalling pathway and post-translation modifications in pluripotent stem cells and cancer cells and understanding its role in regulating cell fate
  • Translating the therapeutic efficacy of MSC exosomes into a clinical application
Leung Hau Wan

Dr. Leung Hau Wan

leung_hau_wan@bti.a-star.edu.sg
Associate Staff Scientist

PhD in Stem Cell Biology (2014), National University of Singapore, Singapore

Research Focus/Interests

  • Scale-up and differentiation of stem cells for therapeutic and industrial applications
  • Generation and characterization of novel antibodies targeting cell surface markers (Antibody Discovery Platform)
  • Biologics production in CHO cells
Hong Jia Mei

Dr. Hong Jia Mei

hong_jia_mei@bti.a-star.edu.sg
Research Scientist

PhD in Neuroscience (2014), NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Singapore

Research Focus/Interests

  • Generation and characterization of novel antibodies targeting cell surface markers for potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications
  • Translating the therapeutic efficacy of MSC exosomes into a clinical application