Patent ID: 7611708

Claim:
A conjugated human anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody or a conjugated antigen-binding fragment thereof, wherein said conjugated anti-CD40 antibody or conjugated fragment thereof exhibits antagonist activity when said conjugated antibody or conjugated fragment thereof binds a CD40 antigen on a malignant human B cell, wherein said conjugated antibody comprises an antibody 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 conjugated antigen-binding fragment of said conjugated antibody retains the capability of specifically binding to human CD40.