Patent ID: 7445780

Claim:
A human anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody or an antigen-binding fragment thereof, wherein said anti-CD40 antibody or fragment thereof exhibits antagonist activity when said antibody or fragment thereof binds a CD40 antigen on a malignant human B cell, wherein said human anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody is selected from the group consisting of: a) the monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line 15B8 (Patent Deposit Designation PTA-3814); b) a monoclonal antibody comprising a light chain variable region having the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and a heavy chain variable region having the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4; and c) a monoclonal antibody having a light chain variable region having the amino acid sequence encoded by the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 and a heavy chain variable region having the amino acid sequence encoded by the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3; wherein said antigen-binding fragment retains the capability of specifically binding to human CD40.