Researcher Yuka Hasegawa from the Translational Research Business Unit to present a poster at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology

2026.06.23

Yuka Hasegawa, a researcher from the Translational Research Business Unit, will have an oral and a poster presentation at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology (JSOT),  to be held at Osaka International Convention Center, Japan.
If you plan to attend the conference, we encourage you to join the session and hear the presentation.

Conference Name: the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology (JSOT)

Date & Time: Thursday, July 2, 2026
Luncheon Seminar: 12:15-13:15
Poster Presentation: 13:30–14:20

Location: Osaka International Convention Center, Japan

Title: Cytokine release assay using human PBMCs enables CRS risk stratification of therapeutic antibodies

Poster Board No: 5107

Presentation Summary
Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is classified into a spectrum ranging from mild cases characterized solely by fever to severe cases leading to multi-organ failure. In the development of antibody therapeutics, accurately predicting the risk of CRS onset remains a critical challenge. In particular, human-specific immune responses are not always adequately predicted by conventional animal models, necessitating the establishment of evaluation systems with high predictive value in humans.
In this study, six antibody therapeutics with distinct clinical CRS profiles were immobilized onto plates, and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from 13 donors were cultured for 24 hours. Subsequently, the levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines produced in the culture supernatants were quantitatively evaluated. Furthermore, panitumumab (low-risk) and muromonab (high-risk) were employed as reference antibodies to establish classification criteria. Based on these criteria, donor responses were categorized into three risk levels-low, middle, and high—and their respective distributions were analyzed.
The results showed that for panitumumab, which is associated with a low clinical CRS risk, the majority of donors were classified as low-risk. In contrast, for muromonab and TGN1412, which are associated with severe CRS risk, a large proportion of donors were categorized as high-risk. These findings suggest that the present evaluation system serves as a useful tool for the preclinical assessment of CRS risk in antibody therapeutics.

Axcelead’s Soulution
At Axcelead, we provide cytokine release syndrome (CRS) potential assessment for antibody therapeutics using human PBMC-based cytokine release assays, starting as early as the preclinical stage. This enables our clients to make confident, data-driven candidate selection decisions with safety considerations from the very beginning of development.
We maintain a panel of quality-tested PBMCs, allowing us to minimize inter-assay variability and deliver reliable, high-quality data with reduced turnaround times.
If you are facing challenges in safety assessment during antibody therapeutic discovery, please feel free to contact Axcelead.