An Fv region-based qualitative screening profile was devised to flag mAb candidates whose development, as high concentration drug products, could prove challenging. This screen can facilitate developability risk assessment and mitigation strategies for antibody based therapeutics via rapid high throughput material-free screening.

Two studies tested the prediction that having had prior experience with a need increases empathy for another person currently experiencing that need. In Study 1, subjects reported their feelings of empathy after observing a same-sex peer endure mild but uncomfortable electric shocks. Compared with those given no prior experience with the shocks, women who had prepared to receive the shocks themselves reported more empathy, whereas men who had prepared reported less. In Study 2, subjects reported their feelings of empathy after reading a transcript in which a same-sex adolescent described an upsetting life experience. Women who had had a similar experience during adolescence reported more empathy than women who had not; men who had had a similar experience reported no more empathy than men who had not. Across both studies, then, prior experience with the need increased empathy among women but not among men.

Early stage developability assessments of monoclonal antibody (mAb) candidates can help reduce risks and costs associated with their product development. Forecasting viscosity of highly concentrated mAb solutions is an important aspect of such developability assessments. Reliable predictions of concentration-dependent viscosity behaviors for mAb solutions in platform formulations can help screen or optimize drug candidates for flexible manufacturing and drug delivery options. Here, we present a computational method to predict concentration-dependent viscosity curves for mAbs solely from their sequence-structural attributes. This method was developed using experimental data on 16 different mAbs whose concentration-dependent viscosity curves were experimentally obtained under standardized conditions. Each concentration-dependent viscosity curve was fitted with a straight line, via logarithmic manipulations, and the values for intercept and slope were obtained. Intercept, which relates to antibody diffusivity, was found to be nearly constant. In contrast, slope, the rate of increase in solution viscosity with solute concentration, varied significantly across different mAbs, demonstrating the importance of intermolecular interactions toward viscosity. Next, several molecular descriptors for electrostatic and hydrophobic properties of the 16 mAbs derived using their full-length homology models were examined for potential correlations with the slope. An equation consisting of hydrophobic surface area of full-length antibody and charges on V, V, and hinge regions was found to be capable of predicting the concentration-dependent viscosity curves of the antibody solutions. Availability of this computational tool may facilitate material-free high-throughput screening of antibody candidates during early stages of drug discovery and development.

The preparation and polymerization of a bifunctional imidazolium‐based ionic liquid (IL) monomer that incorporates both a vinyl group and a thiophene moiety is reported. Potentiodynamic electropolymerization of the monomer produces an optically birefringent polymer film that strongly adheres to the electrode surface. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy shows that polymerization occurs through both the vinyl and thienyl groups. Cylic voltammetry (CV) is used to determine the polymer oxidation potential (1.66 V) and electrochemical bandgap, Eg, of 2.45 eV. The polymer exhibits electrochromism, converting from yellow in the neutral form (λmax = 380 nm) to blue in the polaronic state at 0.6 V (λmax = 672 nm) and to blue‐grey in the bipolaronic state at 1.2 V (λmax > 800 nm). Topographic atomic force microscopy (AFM) images reveal isolated (separated) fibrils. Grazing‐incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS) studies indicate a lamellar structure with a lattice spacing of 3.2 nm. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) studies further suggest that the polymerized thiophene sheets are oriented perpendicular to the polymerized vinylimidazolium. The electrical conductivity, as determined by four‐probe dc conductivity measurements was found to be 0.53 S cm−1 in the neutral form and 2.36 S cm−1 in the iodine‐doped state, values higher than typically observed for polyalkylthiophenes. The structural ordering is believed to contribute to the observed enhancement of the electrical conductivity.