Marketing approval of mogamulizumab: a triumph for glyco-engineering

MAbs. 2012 Jul-Aug;4(4):419-25. doi: 10.4161/mabs.20996. Epub 2012 Jul 1.

Abstract

Therapeutic properties of antibodies strongly depend on the composition of their glycans. Most of the currently approved antibodies are produced in mammalian cell lines, which yield mixtures of different glycoforms that are close to those of humans, but not fully identical. Glyco-engineering is being developed as a method to control the composition of carbohydrates and to enhance the pharmacological properties of mAbs. The recent approval in Japan of mogamulizumab (POTELIGEO (®) ), the first glyco-engineered antibody to reach the market, is a landmark in the field of therapeutic antibodies. Mogamulizumab is a humanized mAb derived from Kyowa Hakko Kirin's POTELLIGENT (®) technology, which produces antibodies with enhanced antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity. The approval was granted April 30, 2012 by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for patients with relapsed or refractory CCR4-positive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma.

Publication types

  • Editorial

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / genetics
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / metabolism
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use*
  • Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity / drug effects
  • Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity / immunology
  • Drug Approval*
  • Glycoproteins / immunology
  • Glycoproteins / therapeutic use
  • Glycosylation
  • Humans
  • Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / drug therapy*
  • Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / immunology
  • Protein Engineering / methods

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Glycoproteins
  • mogamulizumab