Novel bispecific T cell engaging antibodies for treatment of Lyme disease

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Lyme disease (LD) is the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States. According to the recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention report, approximately 300,000 Lyme cases are diagnosed each year. If left untreated, the infection spreads to joints, the heart and the nervous system. In most cases, infections and associated symptoms are eliminated by antibiotic use. Following the antibiotic treatment, however, many patients have persistent or recurrent symptoms characterized by lingering fatigue, pain, or joint and muscle aches. Studies in animal models indicate that Lyme spirochetes may persist following antibiotic therapy. For those patients who do not respond antibiotics, a novel therapy based onbispecific antibodies is proposed. Bispecific T-cell engaging antibodies (BiTe) will used to redirect T cells to borrelial target cells to trigger cytotxic action by T-lymphocytes. In Phase I, single domain nanobodies to human T cell protein CD3 and L