Affibody molecules¹, small (58 amino acid residues) non-immunoglobulin-based binding proteins, have been found safe and efficacious in humans for medical imaging applications and several therapeutic applications are currently being explored typically in bi- or multispecific formats, e.g. an ongoing phase II study for plaque psoriasis. This lecture will give an overview how affibody molecules are being explored for targeted therapy in oncology and neurodegenerative disorders.Recently, a bivalent Aß-sequestering affibody-dimer was in a transgenic mice model able to prevent the development of AD symptoms with no observed side-effects.Thus, affibody-based strategies for design of next-generation therapeuticsseem promising.

1. Ståhl et al., Trends Biotechn. 8, 691-712, 2017.