Agonistic CD40 antibodies

1. An agonistic monoclonal antibody, or an antigen-binding fragment thereof, that specifically binds to the human CD40 receptor and is capable of inducing CD40 signaling independent of Fcγ mediated CD40 receptor crosslinking;

wherein the antibody comprises a variable heavy (VH) region that is at least 85% identical to SEQ ID NO: 5 and comprises CDR regions CDR1H, CDR2H, and CDR3H as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 33, SEQ ID NO: 47, and SEQ ID NO: 61, respectively; and

wherein the antibody comprises a variable light (VL) region that is at least 85% identical to SEQ ID NO: 19 and comprises CDR regions CDR1L, CDR2L, and CDR3L as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 75, SEQ ID NO: 89, and SEQ ID NO: 103, respectively.

2. The antibody according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody is a humanized IgG1LALA antibody.

3. The antibody according to claim 2 , wherein the antibody comprises at least amino acid substitutions at L234A and L235A of the human IgG1 Fc region according to the Kabat nomenclature.

4. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody binds to an epitope that is overlapping with the CD40L binding site.

5. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody activates human antigen presenting cells (APCs).

6. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody activates cells selected from the group comprising dendritic cells (DCs), B-cells, monocytes, and myeloid cells.

7. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody has an indirect immune cell-mediated cytotoxic effect on tumor cells.

8. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 , which has at least one of the further characteristics

(a) no binding to the Fcγ Receptor;

(b) having a CD40 cell binding affinity with an EC50 value of equal to or less than 49.5 ng/ml;

(c) having KD value of equal to or less than 15.7 nM;

(d) being cross-reactive to cynomolgus monkey CD40 with a KD value equal to or less than 10.3 nM;

(e) inhibiting CD40L by binding to CD40;

(f) preventing synergistic and additive effects of CD40L-mediated functions;

(g) inducing maturation of antigen presenting cells as determined by IL12p70 release with an EC50 value of equal or less than 208 ng/ml

and/or as determined by the induction of CD86 on dendritic cells by at least 7.5-fold and with an EC50 of equal to or less than 148 ng/ml; and/or

(h) reducing the level of CD40 on the cell surface by less than 50% of the reduction observed for CP-870,893.

9. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a therapeutically effective amount of the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 .

10. A method of treating cancer in a subject comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof according to claim 1 .

11. The method of treating a cancer according to claim 10 , wherein the cancer is a solid tumor.

12. The method of treating a cancer according to claim 10 , wherein, the cancer is selected from the group consisting of: pancreas cancer, including advanced pancreatic carcinoma, lung cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer and bronchioloalviolar cell lung cancer, bone cancer, skin cancer, including cutaneous melanoma, cancer of the head or neck, intraocular melanoma, ovarian cancer, rectal cancer, cancer of the anal region, gastric cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, salivary gland cancer, and uterine cancer.

13. The method of treating a cancer according to claim 10 , wherein in combination with the antibody, the method further comprises administering a cytotoxic or cytostatic agent, or applying radiotherapy, including targeted radiotherapy, immunotherapy or surgery.