Comments from the Award Winners

On receiving the Best Poster Award Translational Research Division, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Translational Research Division, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co.

　I am very honored to receive the Best Poster Award at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pharmacokinetics for my presentation entitled “Development of a novel kinetic evaluation method for biopharmaceuticals using non-radioactive metal labeling and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) without matrix effects. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the judges and all the people involved in the Japanese Society of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics.

　Radioisotope (RI) research is widely used in the life science field because of its high sensitivity, specificity, and simplicity. However, the use of radioisotopes (RIs) requires facilities that meet strict approval requirements, and there are strict rules for the storage, use, and disposal of RIs, as well as the risk of radiation exposure to researchers during experiments.

　In this study, we developed a new tissue distribution method using ICP-MS, which is mainly used to detect metal impurities in foods, and a monoclonal antibody labeled with a non-radioactive metal. The results of ICP-MS measurements of blood concentration trends and organ distribution of a non-radioactive indium-labeled antibody in mice showed that the blood concentration trends and organ distribution were comparable to those of a radioactive indium ^(111In) -labeled antibody. These results indicate that this method, in which non-radioactive metal-labeled antibodies are detected by ICP-MS, is an alternative to the conventional method of evaluating distribution using RI-labeled antibodies.

　Because this method uses non-radioactive metals, there are no restrictions on the location of use and no risk of radiation exposure to researchers. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate antibody distribution in monkeys, which has been difficult to do so far. In addition, since ICP-MS can simultaneously quantify multiple metals, it is possible to simultaneously evaluate the distribution of multiple antibodies in a single animal by labeling each antibody with a different metal. We believe that this method, which is experimenter-friendly and animal-ethical, will be utilized in the drug discovery and development stages of biopharmaceuticals, including modified antibody technology and cells, and will contribute to accelerating the speed of development.

　Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Yoko Takano, Dr. Shina Minegishi, Dr. Kazuhisa Ozeki for their great cooperation and guidance in conducting this research, and to the Research Division and Translational Research Division of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co.