It is an important event in any knowledge area when an authority in the field decides that it is time to share all accumulated knowledge and learnings by writing a text book. University in Columbus, Ohio and later in industry while at Merck. Despite his notable advances in recombinant natural products, industry interest in this area waned and in 2001 Dr. Strohl sought new opportunities Cyt387 by Cyt387 entering the field of antibody therapeutics. He initiated antibody discovery through phage display at Merck, and then Cyt387 moved to Centocor Research and Development Inc. (now Janssen Biotech, Inc.) in 2008 to head Biologics Research, where he now directs the discovery of innovative therapeutic antibody candidates. is a remarkable achievement for a single author. It speaks for Dr. Strohls passion for science, and power of persuasion, that he found the time required by convincing his family that writing a text book about antibodies would be good way to spend quality time together. Dr. Strohl teamed up with his wife Lila Strohl, who is a gifted professional medical illustrator with over 20 years of experience, and his son Joshua, who assisted with the impressive reference section of the book. From the text and art work, it is clear that Dr. Strohl made a considerable effort to explain the essentials of therapeutic antibody biology to his familial collaborators, and thereby to us, the readers of his book. thereby represents a unique project, resulting in a book that reads very well despite its highly compact writing and copious references. Lila Strohls drawings strongly support the text and stand out as they highlight, in correct dimensions, critical features of antibody, target and effector molecule structures and complexes as we understand them today. Of special interest are the many summary tables, which provide clear and complete overviews of key information. An important feature of the book is that the chapters are written as stand-alone reviews, with the first nine chapters providing necessary background on antibody structure, mechanisms of action, effector functions and relevant discovery technologies. The chapters in the second half of the book provide a detailed guide to antibody engineering for therapeutic use; these do not need to be read sequentially and can be studied on an as-needed basis. As a true innovator, Dr. Strohl puts emphasis on all the firsts in therapeutic antibody development, Cyt387 providing a strong historic perspective next to highlights of the critical importance of rapid innovation in our field. The first three chapters provide an introduction to antibody biology and structure-function relationships, the therapeutic antibody naming convention (critical for those not familiar with the jawbreakers common in the field), as well as the therapeutic antibody development process and its commercial aspects. This section brings home not only the large number of patients in diverse therapeutic areas who benefit from antibody drugs, but also the accompanying commercial success of antibody therapeutics. It defines the historical and future growth areas of antibody therapeutics in comparison to that of small molecule drugs. Dr. Strohls analyses of the success and potential of therapeutic antibodies, founded by cogent arguments, will likely inspire students interested in drug development to enter the field. For people working on small molecules, it may be a wake-up call to think of a career change, whereas for those of us already involved in the science and business of therapeutic antibodies, it provides a feel-good outlook, but also describes the many challenges and opportunities ahead. Chapters 4 through 6 describe the fundamentals of antibody technology and antibody diversity, including how antibody variable region diversity from various species can be harvested, selected and engineered to generate therapeutic antibody drug candidates and products. Interestingly, Dr. Strohl points out the role that patents (or sometimes lack thereof) have played in antibody development. Initially, the decision not to patent K?hler and Milsteins seminal discovery of hybridoma technology, as their intellectual property office surprisingly viewed it as a technology lacking commercial application, allowed rapid adaptation and progress. Patents on the other hand, when combined with sound commercial strategies, have allowed the generation CSMF of many innovative products made possible by novel technologies such as phage display, humanization and human antibody transgenic mice. Dr. Strohl also makes the interesting point that the time required for new key technologies.