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Novel Approach for Fast and Economic Manufacturing of Human Antibodies

Award Information
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Branch: National Institutes of Health
Contract: 1R43AI071676-01A2
Agency Tracking Number: AI071676
Amount: $501,334.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: PHS2007-2
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2008
Award Year: 2008
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
ALPHA UNIVERSE, LLC 1202 ANN ST
MADISON, WI 53713
United States
DUNS: 144579641
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 () -
Business Contact
Phone: (608) 661-0861
Email: alexeyzd@tds.net
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A growing number of potential native and engineered biothreat agents effectively limit the proactive protection of public health through vaccination. An alternative approach relies on the use of corresponding protective
antibodies that are pre-made and are used as injectable drugs in reactive rather than proactive mode. The implementation of this approach, however, is complicated by the fact that administration of non-human antibodies can trigger development of adverse r
eactions. Securing of human antibodies in sufficient quantities so far has been a challenging task. Also, the traditional approach of producing antibodies depends on the existence of corresponding vaccines and cannot be used for expedient development of pr
otective agents against newly emerging infections. To overcome these hurdles we propose to develop a novel system for assembly and production of human/human chimeric antibodies. Such antibodies can be generated at a fraction of the cost of raising polyclon
al antibodies and in substantially shorter times than traditional monoclonal antibodies while still remaining human in nature. In general, our system will be much safer to operate with than hybridoma technology. In addition, it can be used for development
of protective entities at the first signs of emergence of new threat agents. Phase I efforts will test the feasibility of our approach by developing human/human chimeras that will recognize botulinum neurotoxin serotype A. To assemble such chimeras, we
will introduce a proprietary cloning scheme that reduces the risk of modifying native antigen-recognizing sequences and substantially simplifies the process of assembly of immunoglobulin-encoding sequences. This will make the system suitable for high-throu
ghput format applications. Regulatory elements incorporated into cloning vectors will enable rapid detection of cells producing antibodies of interest and selection of host cells for industrial production, thus increasing the efficiency of the process and
decreasing price of the final product. During Phase II, the developed cloning approach and expression vectors will be used to generate IgG variants of chimeric antibodies that will be able to neutralize toxic effects of botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A and
B and will be suitable for use as anti-botulinum drugs. The developed enabling technology will be suitable for generating protective antibodies against other biothreat agents. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The current project will provide a new way for dev
elopment of human anti-pathogen antibodies and opens new opportunities for passive vaccination as a way of protecting humans against infectious diseases and toxins.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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