Development and validation of a functional cell-based neutralizing antibody assay for ipilimumab

Ipilimumab is the first US FDA-approved immune checkpoint-blocking antibody drug to harness the patient's own immune cells. One of the postmarketing requirements is to develop a cell-based neutralizing antibody assay. Here, we share some of the most challenging aspects encountered during the assay development: new cell line construction; an unexpected inhibition of T-cell activation by low concentrations of ipilimumab; and two issues caused by sample pretreatment with acid dissociation to overcome drug interference: instability of neutralizing antibody positive control at low pH, and incompatibility of commonly used acid dissociation buffers in the cell assay. After troubleshooting and optimization, we successfully validated the assay and used the assay to test clinical samples to date.