I believe there has been research taking these sorts of molecule imprinted polymers beyond strictly steric interactions. I'm fairly certain it was Nicholas Pep

I believe there has been research taking these sorts of molecule imprinted polymers beyond strictly steric interactions. I'm fairly certain it was Nicholas Peppas that I saw talking about it at a conference; sorry I don't recall a more specific name closely connected to it. Iirc, they were first binding several other molecules to the target molecule, then enveloping the target plus extras in the polymer, and then getting rid of the target molecule but not the others. So not only is the shape of the target imprinted in the polymer, but also, around the target-shaped hole are several molecules that would bind to the target were it to get in the hole again. Now that I think about it, I don't recall if it helped with the kind of selectivity wanted for this "antibody". They were more concerned, I think, with using the binding of the target to the extra molecules around the hole as a trigger for degrading the polymer.