Abstract: VAR2CSA-drug conjugates for targeting and inhibiting the growth of cancer cells that have developed resistance to a platinum drug and the use of the conjugates in the treatment of platinum drug-resistant cancers. VAR2CSA-drug conjugates (VDCs) comprise a VAR2CSA polypeptide that is capable of binding to oncofetal chondroitin sulfate (ofCS) and one or more toxins having anti-cancer activity conjugated to the VAR2CSA polypeptide, either directly or via a linker.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process and methods for producing asymmetric antibodies in a mammalian expression system. The asymmetric antibodies are transiently or stably expressed and in cells that stably express the asymmetric antibody, following a rapid 2-step process of stable pool to clone, a highly pure asymmetric antibody expressing clone can be identified at a success frequency that permits for screening of tens of clones rather than thousands. The asymmetric antibodies are produced at a high titre and with a high level of purity with no contaminating homodimer antibodies following protein A purification with a step yield of near 100%. Typical downstream purification processes employ standard hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) and/or cation exchange (CEX) resins and the antibody is stable within a wide dynamic range of buffer pH (4-8) and within the requirements for manufacturing antibodies for pre-clinical and clinical applications.

Abstract: Systems and methods for searching conformation space of a polymer to determine a three-dimensional conformation of the polymer that satisfies a performance metric is provided. The polymer comprises a plurality of domains and at least a first hinge. Initial three-dimensional coordinates of the polymer are altered by pivoting the first domain with respect to the second domain about the first hinge thereby obtaining an altered set of three-dimensional coordinates for the polymer. In this altering, atoms within the first domain are held fixed with respect to each other and atoms within the second domain are also held fixed with respect to each other. The altered set of coordinates is scored against a performance metric. Additional instances of the altering and scoring are performed, if necessary, until the altered set of three-dimensional coordinates satisfy the performance metric.

Abstract: The provided scaffolds have heavy chains that are asymmetric in the various domains (e.g. CH2 and CH3) to accomplish selectivity between the various Fc receptors involved in modulating effector function, beyond those achievable with a natural homodimeric (symmetric) Fc molecule, and increased stability and purity of the resulting variant Fc heterodimers. These novel molecules comprise complexes of heterogeneous components designed to alter the natural way antibodies behave and that find use in therapeutics.

Abstract: Compounds having cytotoxic and/or anti-mitotic activity are disclosed. Methods associated with preparation and use of such compounds, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, are also disclosed. Also disclosed are compositions having the structure: (T)-(L)-(D), wherein (T) is a targeting moiety, (L) is an optional linker, and (D) is a compound having cytotoxic and/or anti-mitotic activity.

Abstract: Compounds having cytotoxic and/or anti-mitotic activity are disclosed. Methods associated with preparation and use of such compounds, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, are also disclosed. Also disclosed are compositions having the structure: (T)-(L)-(D), wherein (T) is a targeting moiety, (L) is an optional linker, and (D) is a compound having cytotoxic and/or anti-mitotic activity.

Abstract: Provided herein are multifunctional heteromultimer proteins. In specific embodiments is a heteromultimer comprising: at least two polypeptide constructs, each polypeptide construct comprising at least one cargo polypeptide attached to a transporter polypeptide, said transporter polypeptides derived from a monomeric native protein such that said monomeric constructs associate to form the heteromultimer and said transporter polypeptides associate to form a quasi-native structure of the monomeric native protein or analog thereof. These therapeutically novel molecules encompass heteromultimers comprising constructs that function as scaffolds for the conjugation or fusion of therapeutic molecular entities (cargo polypeptides) resulting in the creation of bispecific or multivalent molecular species. Provided herein is a method for creation of bispecific or multivalent molecular species.

Abstract: The present invention relates to antibodies that are heterodimeric and bind human PD-L1 and human TIM-3, and may be useful for treating cancer alone and in combination with chemotherapy and other cancer therapeutics.

Abstract: Provided herein are monovalent antigen-binding constructs targeting EGFR and/or HER2. The monovalent antigen-binding constructs can include at least one antigen-binding polypeptide comprising a heavy chain variable domain, wherein the antigen-bind polypeptide specifically binds EGFR and/or HER2; and a heterodimeric Fc domain, the Fc domain comprising at least two CH3 domains, wherein the Fc domain is coupled, with or without a linker, to the antigen-binding polypeptide. Also provided are methods of making the constructs and methods of using the constructs.

Abstract: Systems and methods for visualization of a molecule, comprising a set of particles, are provided. A set of three-dimensional coordinates is obtained, each coordinate describing a position for a corresponding particle. A cost function containing an error in a set of two-dimensional coordinates, where each two-dimensional coordinate corresponds to a three-dimensional coordinate in the set of three-dimensional coordinates, is minimized until an exit condition is achieved. The minimization alters the two-dimensional coordinate values. A set of physical properties SM is obtained, each such property representing a property shared by a pair of particles in the molecule. The coordinates are plotted as nodes of a two-dimensional graph after minimization, connected by a plurality of edges. An edge connects a coordinate pair in the graph that corresponds to a pair of particles in the molecule. A characteristic of the edge is determined by a physical property for the pair of particles.

Abstract: Systems and methods for evaluating a polymer make use of a workflow request identifying input data and a workflow instance. The workflow instance comprises a plurality of actors, each having one or more input and output ports. The workflow instance defines an acyclic directed graph comprising nodes and edges. Each node is an actor in the plurality of actors and each edge corresponds to at least one of (i) an input port of an actor in the plurality of actors and (ii) an output port of an actor in the plurality of actors. Graph parsing produces an ordered list of job requests. Each job request corresponds to an actor in the plurality of actors. An actor in the plurality of actors is executed in an order specified by the ordered list and contributes an output to another actor in the plurality of actors that is specified by the graph.

Abstract: Described herein are isolated bi-specific antigen binding constructs, e.g., antibodies. The bi-specific antigen binding constructs include two antigen binding polypeptide constructs, e.g., a Fab and an scFv. The first antigen-binding polypeptide construct monovalently and specifically binds to extracellular domain 4 (ECD4) of HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2); the second antigen-binding polypeptide construct monovalently and specifically binds to an extracellular domain (ECD) of HER3 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 3). One antigen binding polypeptide construct is a Fab format and the other antigen binding polypeptide construct is an scFv format. The bi-specific antigen binding constructs includes an Fc having two Fc polypeptides each having a CH3 domain for dimerization. Each Fc polypeptide is linked to the C-terminus of one of the antigen binding polypeptide constructs with or without a linker.

Abstract: Compounds having cytotoxic and/or anti-mitotic activity are disclosed. Methods associated with preparation and use of such compounds, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, are also disclosed. Also disclosed are compositions having the structure: (T)-(L)-D), wherein (T) is a targeting moiety, (L) is an optional linker, and (D) is a compound having cytotoxic and/or anti-mitotic activity.

Abstract: Systems and methods for visualization of a molecule, comprising a set of particles, are provided. A set of three-dimensional coordinates is obtained, each coordinate describing a position for a corresponding particle. A cost function containing an error in a set of two-dimensional coordinates, where each two-dimensional coordinate corresponds to a three-dimensional coordinate in the set of three-dimensional coordinates, is minimized until an exit condition is achieved. The minimization alters the two-dimensional coordinate values. A set of physical properties SM is obtained, each such property representing a property shared by a pair of particles in the molecule. The coordinates are plotted as nodes of a two-dimensional graph after minimization, connected by a plurality of edges. An edge connects a coordinate pair in the graph that corresponds to a pair of particles in the molecule. A characteristic of the edge is determined by a physical property for the pair of particles.

Abstract: Provided herein are multifunctional heteromer proteins. In specific embodiments is a heteromultimer that comprises: at least two monomeric proteins, wherein each monomeric protein comprises at least one cargo polypeptide, attached to a transporter polypeptide, such that said monomeric proteins associate to form the heteromultimer. These therapeutically novel molecules comprise monomers that function as scaffolds for the conjugation or fusion of therapeutic molecular entities resulting in the creation of bispecific or multivalent molecular species.

Abstract: The present invention provides heterodimer pairs that can comprise a first heterodimer and a second heterodimer wherein each heterodimer comprises an immunoglobulin heavy chain or fragment thereof and an immunoglobulin light chain or fragment thereof. At least one of the heterodimers can comprise one or more amino acid modifications in the CH1 and/or CL domains, one or more amino acid modifications in the VH and/or VL domains, or a combination thereof. The modified amino acid(s) can be part of the interface between the light chain and heavy chain and are typically modified to create preferential pairing between each heavy chain and a desired light chain such that when the two heavy chains and two light chains of the heterodimer pair are co-expressed in a cell, the heavy chain of the first heterodimer preferentially pairs with one of the light chains rather than the other. Likewise, the heavy chain of the second heterodimer typically preferentially pairs with the second light chain rather than first.

Abstract: Provided herein are biparatopic antigen-binding constructs that specifically bind HER2. The biparatopic antigen-binding constructs comprise one antigen-binding moiety that binds to ECD2 of HER2, a second antigen-binding moiety that binds to ECD4 of HER2, and an Fc. At least one of the antigen-binding moieties is an scFv. The biparatopic antigen-binding constructs can be used in the treatment of cancer.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of determining changes in a first set of residues r1 due to changes in a second set of residues r2 in a protein system comprising one or more proteins comprising r1 and r2. In exemplary embodiments, the method comprises optimizing a quality function Q by modifying one or more properties of r1 and r2 in a constrained environment in which all degrees of freedom of the system except those directly involved in the potential coupling between r1 and r2 are removed.

Abstract: Disclosed are the atomic coordinates of compositions comprising Fc heterodimer proteins in crystalline form derived from high resolution x-ray diffraction. Further disclosed are systems and methods for using all or a portion of these atomic coordinates to identify and design improved Fc heterodimer proteins. Further disclosed are compositions comprising a mixture of (i) a solubilized Fc heterodimer protein and (ii) a mother liquor solution. The mother liquor solution comprises between 2% and 10% (v/v) ethylene glycol, between 10% and 25% (w/v) polyethylene glycol having an average molecular weight of between 2000 Daltons and 10000 Daltons, and between 0.05 M and 0.40 M ammonium iodide. Further disclosed are systems and methods of identifying a mutation which promotes heterodimeric Fc chain pair formation in which structure based modeling is performed to identify a candidate mutation to an Fc chain using all or a portion of the disclosed three-dimensional atomic coordinates.

Abstract: VAR2CSA-drug conjugates having biological activity are disclosed. Methods associated with preparation and use of such conjugates, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such conjugates, are also disclosed.