anti-complement factor d antibody

Anti-complement factor D antibodies represent a therapeutic class of monoclonal antibodies or fragments designed to selectively inhibit the alternative complement pathway (AP). Complement Factor D (CFD) is a highly specific serine protease that circulates in the blood and is the rate-limiting enzyme for AP activation; it cleaves Factor B into Ba and Bb only when Factor B is complexed with C3b. The resulting C3bBb complex is the AP C3 convertase, which drives an amplification loop of complement activation. By binding to Factor D, these antibodies prevent the formation of C3 and C5 convertases, thereby mitigating downstream inflammatory processes, membrane attack complex (MAC) formation, and cell lysis. This approach has been most extensively investigated for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with lampalizumab (Genentech/Roche) being the most prominent candidate to reach late-stage clinical trials. Although lampalizumab failed to demonstrate efficacy in Phase 3 studies, the class remains of interest for other complement-mediated conditions such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS).

Other names

anti-complement factor d antibodyanti-factor D antibodycomplement factor D inhibitor antibody