- FY2026 Imperial Invention Prize awarded to Chugai for recycling antibody technology.
- Technology uses pH-dependent antigen binding so one antibody can bind multiple targets, improving sustained efficacy and lowering required dose.
- Enables subcutaneous administration and longer dosing intervals, reducing patient and healthcare burden and costs.
- Awarded invention: antibody generation technology with recycling function (Japanese Patent No. 4954326); inventors Tomoyuki Igawa, Atsuhiko Maeda, Takashi Nakai, Shinya Ishii.
Award
Chugai’s recycling antibody technology received The Imperial Invention Prize at the FY2026 National Commendation for Invention, organized by the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation; it is Chugai’s first Imperial Invention Prize.
Technology
The invention confers pH-dependent antigen binding on antibodies so a single antibody molecule can repeatedly bind multiple antigen molecules, overcoming the one-binding limitation of conventional antibodies.
Clinical and practical implications
Repeated antigen clearance expands treatable targets with high antigen burden, allows therapeutic effect with smaller antibody amounts, enables subcutaneous rather than intravenous dosing, and can extend dosing intervals, which may reduce patient burden and healthcare costs.
Award details
Awarded invention: antibody generation technology with recycling function (Japanese Patent No. 4954326); named inventors are Tomoyuki Igawa, Atsuhiko Maeda, Takashi Nakai and Shinya Ishii; Chugai and its president received related commendations.
