ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Antibodies as Drugs: New Horizons in the
Therapeutic Use of Engineered Antibodies, organized by Drs. Christian Klein, Mark S. Cragg and Germaine
Fuh. The conference will be held in Breckenridge, Colorado from April 7-11, 2019.
Over the last twenty years, recombinant antibodies have been established into clinical practice for the
treatment of diseases ranging from cancer, to autoimmune and infectious diseases. While the first approved
antibodies were native IgG antibodies, in recent years the field has rapidly advanced and therapeutic
antibodies in preclinical and clinical development now include many non-canonical formats including Fc-
engineered antibodies, antibody drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies and antibody-like scaffolds. This
Keystone Symposia conference aims to bring together experts in antibody therapeutics, engineering and
mechanisms of action from industry and academia to discuss and review the state-of-the-art in the field and
discuss their future potential. The conference will foster cross-fertilization between different engineering
technologies and scientists from different therapeutic areas. This conference can also help to initiate
collaboration on the development of state-of-the-art antibody therapies with the aim to improve therapeutic
options for patients. For trainees and early career researchers, this conference provides an opportunity to gain
insight into various aspects of therapeutic antibodies and to discuss their projects and ideas face-to-face with
experts in the field. A unique component to this conference that distinguishes it from other more commercial
meetings in the field, is that this conference will include presentation and discussion of novel/unpublished data.