Acta Pharmacologica Sinica 2005 January; 26 (1): 1-9; doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7254.2005.00008.x

Bispecific antibodies can serve as mediators to retarget effector mechanisms to disease-associated sites. Studies over the past two decades have revealed the potentials but also the limitations of conventional bispecific antibodies. The development of recombinant antibody formats has opened up the possibility of generating bispecific molecules with improved properties. This review summarizes recent developments in the field of recombinant bispecific antibodies and discusses further requirements for clinical development.

Keywords: antibody engineering; bispecific antibody; diabodies; single-chain diabodies; tandem scFv; targeting; effector cells; cancer therapy