Complexes between anti-TNF antibodies, trimeric TNF proteins and organic molecules binding them

1. A complex comprising (i) an antibody, (ii) a trimeric protein that is a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily member, and (iii) a compound that is capable of binding to a trimeric protein that is a TNF superfamily member, wherein the antibody comprises

(a) a HCDR1/HCDR2/HCDR3 sequence combination selected from SEQ ID NOs: 4/5/6 and SEQ ID NOs: 19/20/21, and a LCDR1/LCDR2/LCDR3 sequence combination selected from SEQ ID NOs: 1/2/3 and SEQ ID NOs: 1/17/18; or

(b) a HCDR1/HCDR2/HCDR3/LCDR1/LCDR2/LCDR3 sequence combination of SEQ ID NOs: 4/5/6/1/2/3 or SEQ ID NOs: 19/20/21/1/17/18, wherein:

(a) the compound antagonizes the signalling induced by the trimer through the receptor;

(b) the compound increases the thermal transition midpoint (T m ) of the trimeric form of the TNF superfamily member compared to the T m of the trimeric form of the TNF superfamily member in the absence of the compound;

(c) the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor compared to the binding affinity of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound; and

(d) the compound has an IC 50 value of 500 nM or less.

2. The complex of claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the T m increases by at least 1° C.;

(b) the T m increases by at least 10° C.; or

(c) the T m increases by between 10° C. and 20° C.

3. The complex of claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor by increasing the on rate (k on-r ) and/or decreasing the off rate (k off-r ) compared to the k on-r and k off-r values for binding of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound;

(b) the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor by increasing the on rate (k on-r ) compared to the k on-r value for binding of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound;

(c) the compound decreases the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor compared to the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound, wherein:

(i) the compound decreases the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor by at least 10 times compared to the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound;

(ii) the K D-r value of the TNF superfamily member for binding to the requisite receptor in the presence of the compound is less than 10 nM; or

(d) the compound decreases the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor compared to the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound, wherein:

a) the compound decreases the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to the requisite receptor by at least 4 times compared to the K D-r of the TNF superfamily member to its receptor in the absence of the compound;

b) the K D-r value of the TNF superfamily member for binding to the requisite receptor in the presence of the compound is less than 600 pM, or is less than 200 pM.

4. The complex of claim 1 , wherein—the compound is selected from the group consisting of compounds (1)-(6), or salts or solvates thereof:

5. The complex of claim 1 , wherein the antibody binds to a trimer-compound complex with a K D-ab that is at least 100 times lower, or at least 200 times lower, than the K D-ab for binding to the trimeric TNF superfamily member in the absence of compound and/or for binding to the compound in the absence of the TNF superfamily member.

6. The complex of claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the TNF superfamily member is TNFα and the receptor is the TNF receptor; or

(b) the TNF superfamily member is TNFα and the receptor is TNFR1.

7. The complex of claim 6 , wherein:

(a) the TNFα is TNFαs;

(b) the TNFα is TNFαs and the TNFαs comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 35 or SEQ ID NO: 36, or a variant thereof; or

(c) the TNFα is trimeric.

8. The complex of claim 6 , wherein:

(a) the antibody binds selectively to a TNFα-compound complex compared with binding to the compound in the absence of the TNFα and/or binding to the TNFα in the absence of the compound; or

(b) the antibody binds selectively to the TNFα-compound complex compared with binding to the compound in the absence of the TNFα and/or binding to the TNFα in the absence of the compound and the antibody binds to the TNFα-compound complex with a K D-ab that is at least 100 times lower, or at least 200 times lower, than the K D-ab for binding to the TNFα in the absence of compound and/or for binding to the compound in the absence of the TNFα.

9. The complex of claim 1 , wherein the antibody comprises:

a heavy and light chain pair of SEQ ID NOs: 12/11, 13/11, 27/26 or 28/26, or sequences which are at least 95% identical thereto and wherein the sequences that are at least 95% identical thereto comprise:

(i) HCDR1/HCDR2/HCDR3/LCDR1/LCDR2/LCDR3 sequences consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 4/5/6/1/2/3 and the remainder of the heavy and light chains comprise at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NOs: 12 and 11 respectively;

(ii) HCDR1/HCDR2/HCDR3/LCDR1/LCDR2/LCDR3 sequences consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 4/5/6/1/2/3 and the remainder of the heavy and light chains comprise at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NOs: 13 and 11 respectively;

(iii) HCDR1/HCDR2/HCDR3/LCDR1/LCDR2/LCDR3 sequences consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 19/20/21/1/17/18 and the remainder of the heavy and light chains comprise at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NOs: 27 and 26 respectively; or

(iv) HCDR1/HCDR2/HCDR3/LCDR1/LCDR2/LCDR3 sequences consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 19/20/21/1/17/18 and the remainder of the heavy and light chains comprise at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NOs: 28 and 26 respectively.

10. The complex according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody is:

(a) a humanised antibody; or

(b) a Fab, modified Fab, Fab′, modified Fab′, F(ab′) 2 , Fv, single domain antibody or an scFv.

11. An isolated polynucleotide encoding the antibody of claim 1 .