PEGylated antibodies and antibody fragments for improved therapy: a review

The use of covalent attachment of poly(ethylene glycol) to various different proteins in order to modify their function has been reported over many years. One class of protein that this technology has more recently been applied to is antibodies and antibody fragments. PEG has been predominantly used to reduce the immunogenicity and increase the circulating half-lives of antibodies. It may also have a beneficial effect on the use of antibodies in certain clinical settings such as tumour targeting. This review describes previously reported experience with PEGylated antibodies and antibody fragments, and where these types of molecules may find clinical usefulness in the future. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.