Why early immunogenicity assessment matters

Biologics and advanced therapies face unique hurdles in development.

Key challenges and solutions we can help you address:

  • Regulatory expectations: FDA and EMA demand robust immunogenicity and immunotoxicity data. Early assessment builds confidence, minimizes delays, and strengthens IND submissions.
  • Animal model limitations: Traditional models often fail to capture human‑specific immune responses. Regulators increasingly accept in silico and in vitro approaches to reduce reliance on animal testing.
  • Unwanted immune responses: Anti‑drug antibodies (ADA) can compromise therapeutic activity and trigger complications if not detected early through immunogenicity testing.
  • Regulator‑ready data: We integrate predictive modeling with human‑relevant PBMC assays to generate strong datasets that accelerate development.
  • Cost‑effective workflows: Prioritizing lower‑risk sequences in silico, then validating in vitro, reduces expenses while supporting knowledge‑based candidate selection.

Immunogenicity assessment

The good, the bad (and the ugly)

Epibase® platform: Predict and validate immunogenicity risk early

The Epibase® platform helps you identify and reduce immunogenicity risk before clinical development begins. It combines powerful in silico prediction with human in vitro validation to guide smarter candidate selection and safer design.

Epibase® platform in silico screening:
  • Predicts T cell epitope risk based on peptide-HLA binding
  • Uses 3D structural modeling and statistical analysis of binding affinities
  • Covers 99% of the global population across 85 HLA allotypes
  • Filters out self-like sequences at both peptide and TCR-facing residue levels
  • Helps prioritize lower-risk candidates before in vitro testing
Epibase® platform in vitro assays:
  • Measure immune activation using human PBMCs
  • Detect off-target effects and immunotoxicity
  • Assess the impact of process changes or impurities
  • Provide human-relevant data to support early safety decisions

With the Epibase® platform, you can focus your R&D efforts on the most promising leads, reduce development costs, and move forward with greater confidence.

From our customers


Lonza's Epibase® platform in silico immunogenicity assessment supported our antibody engineering which enabled us to evaluate the technology more appropriately. The assessment didn't add significant time to our project and the Lonza team was very responsive and provided valuable input on our project.

Sysmex Corporation

Lonza’s high level of professionalism, technical expertise, management skills and commitment of the whole Lonza team, ensured that our technically challenging project with multiple hurdles and changes implemented was executed successfully, on time and with quality deliverables.

Valentina Dubljevic MBB, BSc, GAICD, VP, Scientific and Clinical Development

Integrated potency assays for smarter therapeutic development

Potency assays provide the definitive measure of a therapeutic’s biological activity, informing development decisions and manufacturing release criteria. We offer end-to-end support: assay design and development, sourcing of relevant cell lines, and execution of binding and functional assays.

Binding assays (for example, ELISA and kinetic platforms) verify target engagement after engineering iterations, while functional activity assays measure mechanism-specific effects that reflect true therapeutic potency. Optional assay customization and human-relevant cell sourcing achieve results that are predictive of downstream performance and suitable for incorporation into regulatory packages.

Potency assays

Binding assays Activity assays
ELISA binding assays  “True” potency assays (ADCC, ADCP, CDC)
Cell binding assays (membrane binding of the target cell)  General killing assays (e.g., for ADCs)
Binding kinetics (Biacore, Octet) Customized assays
Frequently Asked Questions

Authorities such as the FDA and EMA require immunogenicity data for biotherapeutic proteins. Providing robust data early builds confidence with regulators and supports IND submissions.

Epibase® platform T‑cell epitope screening is integrated into our antibody humanization workflow. It helps identify and minimize immunogenic epitopes early, allowing developers to design candidates with reduced risk of unwanted T‑cell responses.

Epibase® patform covers 99% of the global population across 85 HLA allotypes, combining peptide/HLA binding predictions, 3D structural modeling, and self‑peptide filtering. This ensures broad applicability and accurate risk assessment across diverse patient populations.

Beyond standard binding assays, we offer ADCC, ADCP, CDC functional assays, cell binding assays, ADC killing assays, and binding kinetics (Biacore/Octet). These customizable assays ensure potency testing aligns with the therapeutic’s mechanism of action.

Yes. We can generate small quantities of humanized or deimmunized antibody material for early testing, including binding affinity, aggregate analysis, and optional PBMC assays. This enables rapid proof‑of‑concept validation before scaling up.

Our locations
Locations where this service is provided
Related insights