Integral Molecular, a leader in membrane protein antibody discovery, announced today the appointment of DNA immunization expert Ross Chambers, Ph.D., as Director of Antibody Discovery.
Dr. Chambers will lead the company’s rapidly expanding Antibody Discovery business, which includes its proprietary MPS Discovery Engine® platform that delivers high performance monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against difficult membrane protein targets. MPS includes target engineering, MAb discovery, antibody engineering, and characterization through animal proof of concept.
Dr. Chambers is a pioneer in the field of DNA immunization. In 2003 he adapted DNA immunization for application to antibody discovery, a platform published in Nature Biotechnology. Since then Dr. Chambers has revolutionized the strategies used for antibody elicitation, completing over 2,000 immunization projects.
“I look forward to helping Integral Molecular accelerate antibody discovery by combining its cutting-edge technologies in antigen presentation with advances in DNA immunization, and to working at a company that is committed to doing such advanced scientific work,” Dr. Chambers said.
Before joining Integral Molecular, Dr. Chambers was the Director of R&D at SDIX, a biotechnology company that designed, developed, and produced novel antibodies. Under his leadership of over 10 years, the MAb discovery team created and commercially launched three platforms – Genomic Antibody Technology (GAT), MAb discovery for membrane proteins, and Picodroplet technology for B cell cloning.
“We are pleased to welcome Ross Chambers to the team at Integral Molecular,” said Ben Doranz, President and CEO of Integral Molecular. “Adding Ross’s DNA immunization experience to our MPS platform underscores our commitment to being the leader in identifying therapeutic antibodies against membrane protein targets, and represents the deep scientific expertise that our partners rely on.”
About Integral Molecular
Integral Molecular is a research-driven biotechnology company creating a pipeline of therapeutic antibodies against under-exploited membrane protein targets, including GPCRs, ion channels, transporters, and viral envelope proteins, using its proprietary MPS Discovery Engine®. This platform is built on the company’s Lipoparticle and Shotgun Mutagenesis technologies and over 15 years of experience optimizing membrane proteins, enabling the isolation, characterization, and engineering of monoclonal antibodies against otherwise intractable membrane protein targets. Integral Molecular discovers antibodies for partners in parallel with its own independent work creating antibodies for licensing. The company currently has therapeutic programs focused on pain, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases.