Episode 27: Human VH Domains – Finding Antibodies to Treat COVID-19 and Beyond

The Chain: Protein Engineering Podcast

Dr. Dimiter Dimitrov, Director of the Center for Antibody Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh, sits down with The Chain to discuss his research and its relevance to the current pandemic. His work focuses on human VH domains, which in contrast to the animal antibody domains, like llama and shark, may have lower probability of immunogenicity. Dr. Dimitrov helps develop several such domains, most recently against SARS2, and one of which that is in production for evaluation in human clinical trials. Beyond COVID-19, Dr. Dimitrov explains that clinical trials for various cancer-related proteins and HIV are also underway, showing the vast potential for domains both for industry growth and life-saving therapies.