Abstract
Neuregulin protein 1 (NRG1) is a large (> 60-amino-acid) natural peptide ligand for the ErbB protein family members HER3 and HER4. We developed an agonistic antibody modality, termed antibody ligand mimetics (ALM), by incorporating complex ligand agonists such as NRG1 into an antibody scaffold. We optimized the linker and ligand length to achieve native ligand activity in HEK293 cells and cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and used a monomeric Fc-ligand fusion platform to steer the ligand specificity toward HER4-dominant agonism. With the help of selectivity engineering, these enhanced ALM molecules can provide an antibody scaffold with increased receptor specificity and the potential to greatly improve the pharmacokinetics, stability, and downstream developability profiles from the natural ligand approach. This ligand mimetic design and optimization approach can be expanded to apply to other cardiovascular disease targets and emerging therapeutic areas, providing differentiated drug molecules with increased specificity and extended half-life.