Aflibercept – Research Grade Biosimilar

Background:

Aflibercept is a manufactured protein that acts as a decoy receptor for all VEGF-A isoforms and placental growth factor. This agent was engineered through fusion of the ligand-binding domains from two VEGF receptors with the constant region of IgG1, resulting in high-affinity VEGF binding and prevention of VEGF pathway activation. VEGF165 is the most abundant splice variant of VEGF-A. VEGF165 is produced by a number of cells including endothelial cells, macrophages and T cells. VEGF165 is involved in angiogenesis, vascular endothelial cell survival, growth, migration and vascular permeability. VEGF gene expression is induced by hypoxia, inflammatory cytokines and oncogenes. VEGF165 binds to heparan sulfate and is retained on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. VEGF165 binds to the receptor tyrosine kinases, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2. VEGF165 is the only splice variant that binds to co-receptors NRP-1 and NRP-2 that function to enhance VEGFR2 signaling. Binding of VEGF165 to VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 leads to activation of the PI3K/AKT, p38 MAPK, FAK and paxillin. VEGF plays a key role in tumor angiogenesis in many cancers.