Glycosylation as a strategy to improve antibody-based therapeutics

Oligosaccharides are key to the mode of action of recombinant monoclonal antibodies. This article reviews current understanding of the role of antibody glycosylation on antibody effector function and the strategies that are being explored to produce homogeneous natural antibody glycoforms with optimized therapeutic efficacy. To date, more than 20 recombinant immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody therapeutics are licensed for the treatment of various diseases. The mechanism of action of recombinant monoclonal antibodies (rMAbs) has been extensively investigated and several distinct pathways have been defined; selective activation of specific pathways may optimize clinical outcomes for different diseases, such as…