Integral Molecular Launches Paratope-PLUS™, a CDR-Scanning Service to Support Robust Patent Claims and Antibody Engineering

Technology aligns with new USPTO guidance for writing antibody patent claims and enables antibody engineering for novel intellectual property

PHILADELPHIA, March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Integral Molecular, a leader in antibody discovery and protein engineering, has launched a new technology-based service to strengthen antibody patent claims in response to recent changes in U.S. patent guidelines. Paratope-PLUS™ CDR-scanning uses high-throughput mutagenesis to support antibody patenting strategies and novel claim sets. Integral Molecular's CDR-scanning strategy is described in the February 2025 issue of Nature Biotechnology¹.

Learn how Paratope-PLUS™ CDR-scanning can protect antibody intellectual property

Paratope-PLUS™ involves mutating each residue of an antibody's CDRs (Complementarity Determining Regions) to all 19 other amino acids, identifying every variant that retains or enhances function. This approach broadly defines antibody 'genus' claims around a common structural feature (the paratope, the antibody residues that make direct contact with the target). Importantly, this fulfills U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requirements of enablement (how to make) and written description (demonstration of possession).

"The Supreme Court's decision last year to invalidate broad antibody functional claims rewrote the rules for patents, creating an IP dilemma," said Benjamin Doranz, CEO of Integral Molecular. "With our 20 years of experience in high-throughput protein mutagenesis and antibody characterization, we are excited to offer a solution that can provide strong protection for antibody intellectual property and insights to create better therapeutics."

Paratope-PLUS™ provides:

• Expression and binding data for every antibody variant
• A genus of structurally related antibodies that meet enablement and written description requirements for broad patent claims
• Data describing variants with improved expression, binding, and developability, providing the basis for antibody engineering and novel claims

Antibody developers interested in discussing CDR-scanning should contact Integral Molecular

About Integral Molecular

Integral Molecular (integralmolecular.com) is the industry leader in creating transformative technologies that advance the discovery of therapeutics against difficult protein targets. With 20+ years of experience focused on antibodies, membrane proteins, and viruses, Integral Molecular's technologies have been integrated into the drug discovery pipelines of over 600 biotech and pharmaceutical companies to help discover new therapies for cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and viral threats such as SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Zika, and dengue viruses.

Follow Integral Molecular on LinkedIn

Press Contact
Integral Molecular
Soma Banik, PhD, Director of Public Relations
[email protected]

^1. Banik et al. Redefining antibody patent protection using paratope mapping and CDR-scanning. Nat Biotechnol 43:170–174 (2025).

SOURCE Integral Molecular