Laboratory for targeted immunotherapies
Our laboratory researches immune escape in viruses and cancers and develops novel antibodies that can overcome such escape mechanisms. The focus is on HIV-1 and B-cell lymphomas. We combine modern immunology, antibody engineering and translational models to derive therapeutic molecules from mechanistic findings – with the aim of rapidly translating these into clinical applications.
Our HIV programme focuses on broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) and their use in innovative therapeutic, preventive and potential curative strategies. We develop highly potent multispecific antibodies, analyse HIV-1 resistance directly in people living with HIV (PLWH) and combine cohort analyses, single B-cell technologies and in vivo models to advance new immunotherapeutic approaches.
What we do:
- Discovery and characterisation of bNAbs using single-cell methods, high-throughput neutralisation and escape mapping.
- Rapid capture of resistance profiles directly in PLWH using novel functional assays and coupled genotype-phenotype analyses.
- Modelling of real-world selection pressures using fitness and escape landscapes as well as synergy testing of antibody combinations vs. multispecifics.
- Evaluation of prevention and therapeutic approaches in humanised mouse models.
Why this is important
We want to make bNAb-based treatments more precise and effective by matching the right antibody to the right person. At the same time, we are developing multispecific bNAbs that could be broad enough to overcome common escape signatures, enabling universal therapies that can be used worldwide.
Based on our many years of expertise in antibody engineering, we are developing new multispecific antibodies against aggressive B-cell lymphomas. While current CD3×CD20 bispecific antibodies represent important advances, challenges such as recurrence, resistance and CRS remain. Multispecific antibodies enable a more precise, broader and safer response to tumour cells and immune cells simultaneously.
What we do:
- Identify escape routes and derive robust design principles for new therapeutic formats.
- Build a modular platform that efficiently combines complementary antigen recognition and effector control.
- Gradually validate leading candidates in novel ex vivo systems and in vivo lymphoma models.
Why it matters
Single-target therapies leave escape routes open. Multispecific antibodies close these by combining multiple recognition and activation mechanisms in a single molecule. This enables deeper and more lasting therapeutic success – with clear prospects for clinical translation.
