Alina Ringaci

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are an emerging class of anticancer therapeutics with several FDA-approved agents. However, existing formulations are limited by unreliable conjugation methods leading to premature drug release, off-target toxicity, and ultimately reduced efficacy. Here, I propose a novel bioconjugation platform based on the supramolecular assembly of coiled-coil peptides for the conjugation of a payload to a monoclonal antibody. One set of peptides is fused to an antibody and another to a drug. The combination of complementary electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions of the amino acids in the peptide sequence enables the conjugation of the payload to the antibody. As a first case study, I created novel ADCs that show superior stability compared to conventional ADCs, high affinity, efficacy in vitro, tunability to a variety of payloads, and ability to target tumors in vivo. Through PhRMA Foundation fellowship, I plan to further test its anticancer effect in vivo.