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Our early antibody developability assessment bridges cost-efficient in silico prediction with targeted experimental validation.
De-risk your antibody candidates early with comprehensive biochemical, biophysical, and functional characterization.
Icosagen provides integrated early developability screening to help identify the most promising antibody candidates and discard unsuitable candidates before entering expensive development stages.
Our early antibody developability assessment bridges cost-efficient in silico prediction with targeted experimental validation.
De-risk your antibody candidates early with comprehensive biochemical, biophysical, and functional characterization.
Icosagen provides integrated early developability screening to help identify the most promising antibody candidates and discard unsuitable candidates before entering expensive development stages.
Read the testimonials ↙
Emil Ruvinov, Department Manager, Protein Technology-Discovery Biotherapeutics
Jaime Gullien, Senior Research Scientist
Ward Celus, Scientific Operations Manager
Ilgar Mamedov, Head of Lead Generation Team
Jean-Marc Herbert, Founder and CEO
Early integration of developability assays into discovery workflows enables rapid, data-driven assessment of key quality attributes before major development investment. This supports earlier risk identification, improved candidate selection, and faster progression of robust therapeutics.
Early integration of developability assays into discovery workflows enables rapid, data-driven assessment of key quality attributes before major development investment. This supports earlier risk identification, improved candidate selection, and faster progression of robust therapeutics.
Streamline your antibody development with early insights into expression, stability, functionality, and manufacturability.
Our in vitro developability assessments help you identify the most promising candidates, reduce downstream risks, and accelerate progression to successful therapeutics, all while making informed, data-driven decisions.
Explore the capabilities below ↓
Therapeutic antibodies must combine high potency with good developability, including stability, manufacturability, and suitable pharmacokinetics. However, many candidates fail late due to issues such as aggregation, instability, or low expression, leading to costly delays. Our early developability assessment using in vitro biochemical, biophysical, and functional assays helps identify these risks and prioritize lead candidates.
Identify key molecular characteristics upfront – expression, functionality, purity, and stability so you can make informed decisions earlier, reduce downstream risks, and accelerate your path to a successful therapeutic.
This HPLC-based technique isolates functional antibodies from complex samples (e.g., cell lysates) by binding the antibody Fc domain to protein A. After unbound material is removed, the captured antibodies are released using a low pH elution buffer. The amount of functional antibody (titre) is then quantified using a species- and isotype-matched calibration curve. 
aSEC on calibrated HPLC columns quantifies monomer peaks and detects multimers and aggregates, providing a fast and precise product quality profile immediately after affinity purification.
Identify antibodies with polyreactivity, (low) stability, self-association, and proteolysis risks upfront, helping you eliminate candidates likely to have poor pharmacokinetics, reduced efficacy, or formulation challenges.
Assessing non-specific antibody binding to multiple unrelated biomolecules in an ELISA format. Non-specific binding can lead to poor pharmacokinetics and reduced efficacy. Our panel covers several major nonspecific binders:
Antibody binding on a Western therefore indicates recognition of linear (continuous) epitope. Western blotting requires SDS-PAGE, which: Denatures proteins, Disrupts secondary and tertiary structure, Leaves proteins largely as linear polypeptide chains.
nanoDSF provides fast and label-free measurement of antibody unfolding as temperature increases by tracking changes in intrinsic fluorescence from aromatic residues.This causes a shift in fluorescence intensity or wavelength. The unfolding transition is summarized as a melting temperature (Tm), which is a general indicator for antibody stability.
Aggregation temperature (Tagg) is determined by Static Light Scattering (SLS) to assess antibody aggregation propensity under thermal stress. Aggregation is measured as an increase in scattered light intensity.
Analytical hydrophobic interaction chromatography (aHIC) is an HPLC-based technique that separates antibodies based on their hydrophobicity, with stronger binding observed as later retention times.
AC-SINS (Affinity-Capture Self-Interaction Nanoparticle Spectroscopy) is a solution-based assay that measures antibody self-association by capturing antibodies onto gold nanoparticles and detecting plasmon wavelength shifts.
Early release (< pH 7.0)
Risk of degradation in the lysosome
Optimal release (pH 7.0-7.5)
Warrants strong binding in endosome and complete release in blood stream
Late release (> pH 7.5)
Risk of antibody staying bound to the receptor on the cell surface
Early binding characterization enables rapid ranking of antibody candidates by functional performance and biological relevance, supporting informed down-selection and reducing risk before advancing into resource-intensive development stages. 
Flow cytometry measures antibody potency on living cells by tracking dose-dependent binding via fluorescently labeled antibodies and calculating EC₅₀ from the resulting dose–response curve.
Kinetic binding analysis quantifies how fast two molecules bind and separate over time. This allows to record the 3 core parameters of an antibody-antigen interaction:
kₐ - association rate constant,
how quickly the antibody binds its target
kd - dissociation rate constant,
how quickly the antibody unbinds
KD - equilibrium dissociation constant,
the overall binning affinity
Structure-based computational screening flags antibodies with potential stability, aggregation, or chemical liabilities before experimental testing.
By linking in silico predictions to clinical-stage data, we help you prioritize high-potential candidates, save time and resources, and reduce the risk of late-stage failures.
Explore the capabilities below ↓
Prediction of parameters with adverse effects on manufacturability and pharmacokinetic risk projection:
Chemical liabilities:
Biophysical liabilities:
Chemical liabilities:
Biophysical liabilities:
Computational predictions of biophysical risks correlate reasonably well with experimental data from clinical stage therapeutic antibodies.
Meet our experts
Dr. Sebastian Zoll is a structural biologist and protein biochemist with extensive expertise in structural biology, protein engineering, and antibody developability. As Head of Protein Analytics at Icosagen, he leads advanced cryo-EM–based analytics to support early-stage antibody assessment and optimization.
He earned his PhD in structural biology from the University of Tübingen, studying cell wall cleavage in multi-resistant Staphylococcus strains. After research stays at IOCB Prague and the University of Oxford, where he worked on intramembrane proteases and parasite surface proteins, he developed a strong interest in host–parasite interactions, particularly the sleeping sickness parasite. In 2019, he established his own laboratory at IOCB Prague, focusing on structural studies of interactions between human innate immune factors and parasite surface antigens using cryo-EM.
At Icosagen, Dr. Zoll drives the development of structural insights that help de-risk antibody candidates and accelerate biologics development.
FAIL LATE = FAIL EXPENSIVE
FAIL LATE = FAIL EXPENSIVE
Even highly potent antibodies can fail during development due to poor stability, aggregation, manufacturing challenges, or unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties. Early developability assessment identifies these liabilities before expensive downstream development begins. Even highly potent antibodies can fail during development due to poor stability, aggregation, manufacturing challenges, or unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties. Early developability assessment identifies these liabilities before expensive downstream development begins. Low expression yields limit manufacturability and increase production risk, making early identification of poorly expressing candidates essential for efficient lead selection. We assess expression and productivity early in development, combining experimental screening with structure-based in silico prediction using molecular dynamics ensembles to improve risk assessment. Fc integrity and binding functionality are then confirmed, as they are critical for purification performance and therapeutic activity.
Aggregation and self-association are critical developability risks that can reduce stability, increase clearance, and negatively impact pharmacokinetics and manufacturability. We use complementary biophysical assays to de-risk aggregation. AC-SINS detects antibody–antibody self-interactions linked to aggregation, non-specific binding, and reduced serum half-life, while aHIC measures hydrophobicity-driven retention associated with aggregation propensity, solubility, and viscosity risks. In parallel, Tagg (SLS) and Tm (nanoDSF) provide early thermal stability readouts to identify fragile candidates with higher downstream aggregation risk.
FcRn binding is a key driver of antibody half-life and pharmacokinetics. Strong binding at acidic pH protects antibodies from lysosomal degradation, while efficient release at physiological pH enables longer serum persistence and improved in vivo exposure.
Strong target binding is essential for therapeutic success, but must be accurately confirmed to ensure true target engagement and avoid selecting antibodies that fail despite apparent affinity. ELISA EC50 provides fast high-throughput screening, followed by flow cytometry to confirm binding in a native cellular context. High-throughput SPR delivers detailed kinetics and epitope competition data, while BLI provides orthogonal validation on membrane proteins, increasing confidence in binding results across formats. Together, SPR and BLI increase confidence by validating results in complementary assay systems.
Low non-specific binding is critical for acceptable pharmacokinetics, as antibodies with high polyreactivity are more likely to show poor PK and rapid clearance. Western blot uses SDS-PAGE to detect binding to linear epitopes, helping flag potential cross-reactivity risks linked to reduced specificity. In parallel, a polyreactivity ELISA panel assesses non-specific binding across key biomolecules, identifying antibodies with higher risk of poor PK, off-target effects, and increased clearance.
Proteolytic degradation can compromise antibody stability and integrity, leading to reduced efficacy and increased heterogeneity in downstream development. Intact MS provides critical early insight – shows if the molecule is intact or signal peptide is misprocessed. Also drives proactive redesign – enables sequence or signal peptide changes before costly failures.
Didn’t find the answer? Ask us a question!
Antibody developability refers to the assessment of whether an antibody candidate has the properties required for successful manufacturing, stability, and clinical development. Early screening identifies liabilities such as aggregation, instability, or unfavorable modifications before costly development stages. Key properties include:
Developability assessment identifies candidates with favorable expression, stability, and scalability profiles. This reduces challenges during process development and ensures smoother transition to GMP manufacturing. Yes. A comprehensive developability assessment typically combines computational (in silico) analysis with experimental validation, providing a complete understanding of antibody behavior. It is common to assess multiple lead candidates in parallel. This enables data-driven ranking and selection of the most promising antibody for further development. Yes. Developability assessment is often integrated with antibody discovery, engineering (e.g., affinity maturation, humanization), and protein production to support seamless progression of antibody programs. 
Antibody discovery
Icosagen has implemented a toolbox of diverse antibody discovery platforms, including our own VLP technology, to yield specific high-affinity antibodies for any target class.
Transient production
Our proprietary QMCF platform enables fast and reliable production. From sequence to purified antibody or protein in just 3.5 weeks.
Process development
Integrated upstream and downstream process development to develop robust manufacturing processes, with cross-functional teams ensuring a seamless path to GMP manufacturing.
GMP manufacturing
State-of-the-art 50L, 200L and 1000L single-use bioreactors, along with GMP cell banking, seed train, upstream and downstream suites, as well as QC and QA to produce liquid GMP bulk drug substance.
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