Jan Terje Andersen is professor in biomedical innovation at University of Oslo, and a research group leader at Oslo University Hospital. He is heading the Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity and Homeostasis, which is a member of PRIMA – a Center of Excellence in Precision Immunotherapy funded by the Research Council of Norway. His laboratory is studying the cellular processes and molecular interplay underlying the functions of the two most abundant proteins in blood, albumin and IgG. By combining structural and biophysical approaches with cellular and in vivo studies, the knowledge is used in design of novel molecules with improved functions. The laboratory is extensively collaborating with biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Andersen has obtained the Fridtjof Nansen Prize for Early Career Achievements and a Distinguished Innovator Grant from Novo Nordisk Foundation. He is an elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and also a co-founder of the biotech company Authera AS.

Antibody-based biologics continue to broaden the therapeutic landscape, and tailoring of effector functions and plasma half-life is a commercially competitive differentiator. In humans, the plasma half-life of most IgG antibodies but also albumin is about 3 weeks at average. This has made IgG the natural choice for design of antibody formats, while albumin is increasingly used as a fusion partner for a range of therapeutic modalities. Remarkably, the plasma half-life of these unrelated proteins is prolonged by a common cellular Fc receptor, FcRn. In addition, Fc engineering for enhanced or silenced effector functions is the key to secure potent and specific mode of actions, which must be carefully considered on a case-to-case basis dependent on the context. In this talk, I will elaborate on how in-depth insights into the complex structural and cellular mechanisms that govern the functions of FcRn can pave the way for design of antibody and albumin based formats with improved binding and transport properties. This perspective will further be discussed in light of Fc engineering for specific engagement of Fc receptors and the complement system.