Described are conjugates formed by an antibody fragment covalently
attached to a non-proteinaceous polymer, wherein the apparent size of the
conjugate is at least about 500 kD. The conjugates exhibit substantially
improved half-life, mean residence time, and/or clearance rate in
circulation as compared to the underivatized parental antibody fragment.
Also described are conjugates directed against human vascular endothelial
growth factor (VEGF), human p185 receptor-like tyrosine kinase (HER2),
human CD20, human CD18, human CD11a, human IgE, human apoptosis
receptor-2 (Apo-2), human tumor necrosis factor-.alpha. (TNF-.alpha.),
human tissue factor (TF), human .alpha.4.beta.7 integrin, human
GPIIb-IIIa integrin, human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human
CD3, and human interleukin-2 receptor .alpha.-chain (TAC) for diagnostic
and therapeutic applications.