FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new, rapid method of identifying proteins associated with cancer tumors could allow for the creation of cancer vaccines that help overcome the body's self-tolerance to certain cancers, according to an article in the September 1 edition of The Journal of Immunology. The new method, SPHERE(TM) (Solid PHase Epitope REcovery), is being used extensively by Genzyme Molecular Oncology (Nasdaq: GZMO).
The article, "Solid-Phase Epitope Recovery: A High Throughput Method for Antigen Identification and Epitope Optimization," is authored by Charles A. Nicolette, Ph.D., leader of Genzyme Molecular Oncology's antigen discovery team, and a group of his colleagues. The article describes the powerful SPHERE method and details its unique ability to identify novel molecules which hold substantial medical and commercial promise -- even in widely studied diseases such as melanoma.
SPHERE serves as a cornerstone of Genzyme Molecular Oncology's antigen discovery program. It has effectively tested cancer-specific T-cells against nearly 50 million synthetic protein fragments, or peptides, to determine which ones respond most notably and can be targeted for clinical vaccine development. Genzyme Molecular Oncology expects to launch its first clinical trial next year using several of these SPHERE peptides in melanoma.
"The SPHERE method provides a new approach to immunotherapy by rapidly identifying and optimizing mediocre self-antigens yielding highly immunogenic epitopes," stated Nicolette, the sole inventor on the issued U.S. patent directed to the SPHERE method. "It quickly and reliably finds peptides that represent different 'flavors' of the same native epitope. Our preliminary work suggests that this could allow the creation of vaccines with broad population coverage capable of circumventing self-tolerance to diseases such as autoimmune disorders and cancer."
According to Nicolette, candidates identified using the patented method are considerably more effective than the native epitope in stimulating an immune response in vitro and, when used in combination with one another, will do so in nearly all healthy donor T-cells tested in this experimental in vitro system.
"In many cases, SPHERE has identified peptides that are anywhere from one thousand to one million times more potent than the native epitope," he added. "We believe that these SPHERE peptides are therapeutically relevant because they reliably give rise to cytotoxic T cells that cross-react with the native epitope in vitro."
SPHERE works collectively with three other proprietary technologies of Genzyme Molecular Oncology -- SELEC-T(TM), SCAN(TM), and SAGE(TM) (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression). Using this platform, Genzyme Molecular Oncology can identify potent antigens and epitopes for drug development in as little as three months, more quickly than is possible using traditional discovery technologies.
Many researchers are interested in the identification of novel antigens and native epitopes for diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of medical disorders. By combining SPHERE with gene expression technology, such as SAGE, the identification of the antigen and native epitope is accomplished rapidly. Commercial rights to SAGE are exclusively licensed to Genzyme Molecular Oncology from The Johns Hopkins University.
Previously, Genzyme Molecular Oncology announced a discovery and licensing agreement with Purdue Pharma L.P. around tumor antigen discovery and an HIV antigen discovery collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital which rely principally on the power of the SPHERE technology.
Genzyme Molecular Oncology is continuing to seek additional collaborators on the use of the SPHERE technology in cancer and infectious disease. Genzyme Molecular Oncology announced the first issuance of U.S. patents covering the SPHERE method and the SPHERE peptides earlier this year. |
