Bivatuzumab (previously BIWA 4) is a humanized

monoclonal antibody A monoclonal antibody (mAb, more rarely called moAb) is an antibody produced from a cell Lineage made by cloning a unique white blood cell. All subsequent antibodies derived this way trace back to a unique parent cell. Monoclonal antibodies ca ...

against

CD44 The CD44 antigen is a cell-surface glycoprotein involved in cell–cell interactions, cell adhesion and migration. In humans, the CD44 antigen is encoded by the ''CD44'' gene on chromosome 11. CD44 has been referred to as HCAM (homing cell adhesi ...

v6. It is officially described as "immunoglobulin G1 (human-mouse monoclonal BIWA4 γ1-chain anti-human antigen CD44v6), disulfide with human-mouse monoclonal BIWA4 κ-chain, dimer". Prior to 2002 it was described as targeting CD44 v8. It has been chemically linked to various radioisotopes for use in radiotherapy for, e.g. inoperable recurrent or metastatic

head and neck cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

. It has also been linked to a cytotoxic drug

mertansine Mertansine, also called DM1 (and #Emtansine, in some of its forms emtansine), is a thiol-containing maytansinoid that for therapeutic purposes is attached to a monoclonal antibody through reaction of the thiol group with a linker structure to creat ...

to form

bivatuzumab mertansine Bivatuzumab mertansine is a combination of bivatuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, and mertansine, a cytotoxic agent. It is designed for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma Squamous-cell carcinomas (SCCs), also known as epidermoid ...

References

Monoclonal antibodies Experimental drugs {{monoclonal-antibody-stub