CR2 binding proteins and their use in medical therapy
The present invention provides CR2 binding proteins which bind to human CR2, pharmaceutical compositions comprising said CR2 binding proteins and their use in the treatment or prevention of autoimmune and/or inflammatory conditions, infectious diseases and malignancies associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV); and their use as vaccine adjuvants/antigen carriers.
1 . A complement receptor 2 (CR2) binding protein which binds to human CR2, wherein said CR2 binding protein binds to one or more residues within the linker between the two short complement repeat domains and/or near the C-terminus of human CR2, wherein said CR2 binding protein comprises in its heavy chain variable region a CDR1 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:7, a CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:8 and a CDR3 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:9, and wherein said CR2 binding protein comprises in its light chain variable region a CDR1 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:10, a CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 11 and a CDR3 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:12.
2 . The CR2 binding protein according to claim 1 wherein said CR2 binding protein comprises a variable light chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 6 and a variable heavy chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO:5.
3 . The CR2 binding protein according to claim 2 , wherein said CR2 binding protein comprises a light chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO:4 and a heavy chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO:3.
4 . A pharmaceutical composition comprising a CR2 binding protein according to claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient.
5 . An antibody which binds to human CR2, wherein said antibody comprises in its light chain variable region a CDR1 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:10, a CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:11 and a CDR3 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 12 and in its heavy chain variable region a CDR1 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:7, a CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:8 and a CDR3 comprising the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO:9.
6 . The antibody according to claim 5 wherein said antibody comprises a variable light chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO:6 and wherein said antibody comprises a variable heavy chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO:5.
7 . The antibody according claim 5 wherein said antibody comprises a light chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO:4 and wherein said antibody comprises a heavy chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 3.
8 . A pharmaceutical composition comprising an antibody according to claim 5 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient.