Anti-GM-CSF antibodies and uses thereof

1. An isolated antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof, wherein the antibody or fragment thereof has specificity to a human granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) protein and comprises a heavy chain variable region (VH) complementarity determining region (CDR) 1 (CDR1) of SEQ ID NO: 1, a VH CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 2, a VH CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 3, a light chain variable region (VL) CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 4, a VL CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 5, and a VL CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 6.

2. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 , further comprising a heavy chain constant region, a light chain constant region, an Fc region, or the combination thereof.

3. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 2 , wherein the light chain constant region is a kappa or lambda chain constant region.

4. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment thereof is of an isotype of IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE or IgD.

5. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment thereof is humanized.

6. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 5 , comprising a heavy chain variable region comprising one or more amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of:

(a) Glu at position 1,

(b) Arg at position 98,

(c) Ser at position 72,

(d) Ala at position 68,

(e) Leu at position 70,

(f) Ile at position 48,

(g) Asp at position 26, and

(h) Leu at position 29, according to Kabat numbering and with reference to SEQ ID NO:7, and combinations thereof.

7. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 6 , wherein the heavy chain variable region comprises at least (a) Glu at position 1.

8. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 6 , wherein the heavy chain variable region comprises a fragment comprising DYTLT (SEQ ID NO: 42) or GYTFT (SEQ ID NO: 43) starting at position 26 according to Kabat numbering.

9. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 5 , comprising a light chain variable region comprising one or more amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of:

(a) Ala at position 46,

(b) Asp at position 60,

(c) Asp at position 70,

(d) Ser at position 43, and

(f) Phe at position 87, according to Kabat numbering and with reference to SEQ ID NO: 18, and combinations thereof.

10. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 , comprising a heavy chain variable region comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 8-17.

11. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 , comprising a light chain variable region comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 19-22.

12. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 , wherein the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14 and the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 22.

13. A composition comprising the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

14. An isolated cell comprising one or more polynucleotides encoding the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 .

15. A method of treating an inflammatory or autoimmune disease or condition in a patient in need thereof, comprising administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 .

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the inflammatory disease or condition is selected from the group consisting of Alzheimer's disease, Addison's disease, atherosclerosis, ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PA), ankylosing spondylitis, asthma, atherosclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Crohn's disease, colitis, dermatitis, diverticulitis, fibromyalgia, hepatitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), systemic lupus erythematous (SLE), nephritis, Parkinson's disease (PD), vasculitis, and ulcerative colitis.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the autoimmune disease or condition is selected from the group consisting of alopecia areata, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, autoimmune hepatitis, dermatomyositis, diabetes (type 1), celiac disease, autoimmune juvenile idiopathic arthritis, glomerulonephritis, Graves' disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, myasthenia gravis, autoimmune myocarditis, multiple sclerosis, pemphigus/pemphigoid, pernicious anemia, polyarteritis nodosa, polymyositis, primary biliary cirrhosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma/systemic sclerosis, Sjogren's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune thyroiditis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, autoimmune uveitis, vitiligo, and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's).

18. A method of treating a cancer in a patient in need thereof, comprising administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 .

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the cancer is selected from the group consisting of bladder cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, esophageal cancer, head and neck cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and thyroid cancer.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising administering to the patient an anti-cancer agent.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is selected from the group consisting of pyrimidine analog, purine analog, folate antagonist, DNA damaging agent, antimitotic alkylating agent, antimitotic antimetabolite, platinum coordination complex, and topoisomerase inhibitor.

22. A method of reducing or relieving pain in a patient in need thereof, comprising administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 .