Question 1

What are the advantages of custom monoclonal antibodies compared to commercial or polyclonal ones?

Accepted Answer

Compared with commercial antibodies, our custom monoclonal antibodies offer a major advantage: they can be tested directly in your laboratory before purchase. This gives you the assurance that the antibody will work in your own experimental conditions before you commit to buying it, a level of reliability that is particularly valuable for research and diagnostic applications.
Compared with polyclonal antibodies, monoclonals provide several well-known advantages:

Higher specificity, since they recognize a single epitope of an antigen.
Excellent reproducibility, as they can be sequenced either from an hybridoma (when performing custom hybridoma generation) or directly from the purified antibody. Once the sequence is obtained, it can be produced indefinitely through transient expression services or by establishing a stable line using our custom cell line development capabilities.
Easier conjugation, due to their homogeneity.
Compatibility with quantitative studies, unlike polyclonal antibodies whose variability limits their use in quantitative assays.

Question 2

Can you develop antibodies against challenging or weakly immunogenic antigens?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we are able to develop antibodies against virtually any target, including the most complex or weakly immunogenic ones. Among the challenging antigens we frequently work with:

For small molecules or weakly immunogenic peptides, we can either adapt our immunization protocol or use non-immunization techniques such as phage display or de novo antibody generation.
For membrane proteins, we can either select an antigen based on a peptide fragment and generate antibodies against this fragment, or generate antibodies against the native form of the membrane protein by embedding it into a nanodisc.
When needed, our single B cell sorting service is particularly well suited for difficult targets or antigens that require rapid or highly specific clone isolation.

You can find additional examples of complex projects in our success stories here and here

Question 3

Can I provide my own antigen?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can provide your own antigen if you have already produced it. We can also assist with antigen production if required.

Question 4

Do you offer pair screening for sandwich assays?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer a dedicated service for the development of antibody pairs for sandwich ELISA assays, which includes systematic screening and selection of the best-performing antibody pairs.

Question 5

What are the typical development timelines for monoclonal antibody generation?

Accepted Answer

Project duration can vary depending on several factors, but the three main criteria are whether the antigen is provided, the selected method, and the desired deliverables.
For instance, our shortest timelines are around 2–3 weeks for screening an antibody library using our phage display service, starting from a client-provided antibody and delivering the antibody sequences as the main output. An additional two weeks is typically required for producing these sequences.
Methods requiring immunization are generally longer. For example, monoclonal antibody generation using single B cell sorting typically requires 6 to 9 weeks. These timelines remain competitive thanks to our accelerated RocketAbs immunization protocol.

Question 6

Can I get a detailed quote and NDA before initiating the project?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most of our projects are covered by a confidentiality clause, and every project includes a detailed preliminary quote outlining the experimental strategy and associated costs point by point.

Question 7

What is included in your deliverables?

Accepted Answer

Deliverables depend on the selected service, but they generally include a detailed report describing the protocols used, the results obtained, a scientific discussion, and the full antibody sequences. All our packages also include intellectual property rights for the delivered sequences.
Depending on the chosen options, samples can be provided for in-house testing, and some packages include several milligrams of purified antibody. These steps can be followed by recombinant antibody production services if additional quantities or formats are required.

Question 8

Can you scale up antibody production once the clone is validated?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we can scale up production of any validated clone. Depending on the required quantities, we will recommend either transient expression services or the development of a stable cell line through custom cell line generation.

Question 9

Do you offer conjugation, labeling, or recombinant expression as follow-up services?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we provide conjugation and labeling services to a wide range of fluorochromes, HRP, biotin, APC, PerCP, and others.
We also offer comprehensive recombinant antibody expression services, either transient or stable, ensuring that your final antibody format fully matches the needs of your application.

Custom Monoclonal Antibodies