Patent ID: 8637032

Claim:
A method for inhibiting growth or differentiation of a normal human B cell, or for inhibiting proliferation of a normal human B cell wherein said proliferation is augmented by the interaction of CD40 ligand with CD40 expressed on the surface of said B cell, comprising contacting said B cell with an effective amount of a human anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody that is capable of specifically binding to human CD40 expressed on the surface of said B cell, wherein said monoclonal antibody is selected from the group consisting of: a) the monoclonal antibody CHIR-12.12 produced by the hybridoma cell line deposited with the ATCC as Patent Deposit No. PTA-5543; b) a monoclonal antibody comprising a light chain variable domain comprising residues 21-132 of SEQ ID NO:2; c) a monoclonal antibody comprising a heavy chain variable domain comprising residues 20-139 of SEQ ID NO:4; d) a monoclonal antibody comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (i) residues 21-239 of SEQ ID NO:2; (ii) SEQ ID NO:2; (iii) residues 20-469 of SEQ ID NO:4; (iv) SEQ ID NO:4; (v) residues 20-469 of SEQ ID NO:5; (vi) SEQ ID NO:5; (vii) residues 21-132 of SEQ ID NO:2 and residues 20-139 of SEQ ID NO:4; (viii) residues 21-239 of SEQ ID NO:2 and residues 20-469 of SEQ ID NO:4; (ix) residues 21-239 of SEQ ID NO:2 and residues 20-469 of SEQ ID NO:5; (x) SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4; and (xi) SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:5; e) a monoclonal antibody comprising the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) of the monoclonal antibody CHIR-12.12 produced by the hybridoma cell line deposited with the ATCC as Patent Deposit No. PTA-5543; f) a monoclonal antibody comprising a light chain variable domain containing the complementarity determining region (CDR) residues of SEQ ID NO:2, and a heavy chain variable domain containing the complementarity determining region (CDR) residues of SEQ ID NO:4; g) a monoclonal antibody that is an antigen-binding fragment of a monoclonal antibody of any one of preceding items a)-f), wherein said fragment retains the capability of specifically binding to said human CD40; and h) a conjugated form of the monoclonal antibody of any one of preceding items a)-g); said monoclonal antibody being free of significant agonist activity, and whereby when said antibody binds to said CD40 antigen on said B cell, the growth or differentiation of said B cell is inhibited.