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We have two technology platforms: a human cell line expression platform, PER.C6 and phage antibody-display selection technologies, including our subtractive selection technology, called MAb'stract. These two technology platforms provide a powerful and effective means to discover, develop and produce a variety of biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of human diseases. Our technologies are fully human and, as such, enable biopharmaceuticals to be developed and produced that do not have the limitations inherent in many biopharmaceuticals currently available.
PER.C6,
a Human Cell-line Expression Platform
PER.C6 is an expression platform that consists of a human cell line that can be used to produce biopharmaceuticals. We produced our PER.C6 cell line from a single source of healthy, human fetal cells in a controlled, documented manner. We have immortalized our PER.C6 cell line by inserting genetic coding from adenoviruses so that it can replicate itself indefinitely, unlike a "normal" human cell. This feature of our cell line is essential to produce biopharmaceutical products in sufficient quantities for commercial distribution.
There are four areas in which our PER.C6 platform is applied:
1. Fully-human Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapeutic Proteins.
2. Vaccines
3. Gene Therapy
4. Functional Genomics.
Phage Antibody-display technology:
library and MAB'stract, engineering and subtractive selection
We use our phage antibody-display library and related selection and engineering technology MAb'stract to discover novel drug targets and as a source of potential biopharmaceuticals that can be used to target and treat diseases without harming surrounding healthy cells or other parts of the body. The monoclonal antibodies generated using our phage antibody-display library and related selection and engineering technology can then be produced using our human expression PER.C6 platform. We believe that the fully-human monoclonal antibodies produced using our PER.C6 platform will be less likely to trigger an undesirable immune-system response when introduced into the human body. Additionally, our research has shown that fully-human antibodies produced in human cells are more effective at lower concentrations and have longer half-lives than antibodies produced by rodent cells.
We use our phage antibody-display technology in three ways:
Discovery of Novel Drug Targets and Corresponding Antibodies.
Our MAB'stract subtractive phage selection technology can be used to discover drug targets by identifying differences between the cell surfaces of diseased cells, such as tumor cells, and healthy cells. In subtractive phage selection, phages that bind to the surface of diseased or disease-causing cells but not to healthy cells are selected from the phage antibody-display library. The antibodies displayed by these phages can be developed into therapeutic drugs because they selectively bind to diseased or disease-causing cells. We then seek to further identify and characterize the drug target, and where possible we apply for patent protection for both the drug target and associated antibody.
Discovery of Antibodies to Known Drug Targets.
The process by which we identify new drug targets and the corresponding antibodies can also be used to discover antibodies against known drug targets. We expose the phage library to the known drug target and recover and analyze the antibodies that bind to it.
Engineering of Antibodies to Achieve Specific Therapeutic Properties.
Our engineering technology allows us to tailor antibodies to enhance their potential therapeutic efficacy. We do this by manipulating the DNA of antibody fragments to create fully-human antibodies with specific therapeutic properties such as:
ability to induce apoptosis, or cell death, which can be used to destroy diseased cells;
ability to inhibit the process of angiogenesis, by which blood vessels form to carry oxygen and nutrients to a tumor;
improved ability to bind to targets, which we refer to as affinity; and
ability to bind to two targets at once rather than to only one target.... |
