Reagents, Reference Materials & Laboratory Chemicals
SARS-COV-2 Neutralising Reagents with Therapeutic Potential for COVID-19 Announced
Avacta Group plc, the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, is pleased to announce that several of the Affimer reagents recently generated for development of a point-of-care COVID-19 antigen saliva test have now also been shown to block the interaction between the virus’ spike protein and ACE2, a receptor on human cells that is key to the virus infection pathway.
Avacta has already successfully generated a large number of Affimer reagents that bind to the SARS-COV-2 virus’ spike protein as part of its partnership with Cytiva (formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences and now part of Danaher Corp). As previously announced, Avacta and Cytiva are working together to develop a rapid point-of-care COVID-19 antigen saliva test to be mass produced for large-scale population screening and for self-testing by consumers.
Further work at Avacta has now shown that several of these Affimer reagents block the interaction between the virus’ spike protein and a receptor found on human cells, called ACE2, to which the virus spike protein binds in order to infect cells. Affimer reagents that block the binding of the virus spike protein to ACE2 therefore have the potential to prevent infection and act as ‘neutralising’ therapies.
Neutralising therapies could be given to those exposed to the virus (such as health and social-care workers) to prevent infection, as well as to patients already infected by the virus, to help treat and prevent disease progression.
Large pharmaceutical companies, such as AstraZeneca and GSK, are now starting programmes to develop neutralising antibodies in an attempt to block the SARS-COV-2 spike protein’s interaction with ACE2. Avacta has now demonstrated that several Affimer reagents also perform this blocking function and the Company is now seeking a partner that has the resources available to develop a neutralising Affimer therapy as quickly as possible.
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/xQwM 52303pr@reply-direct.com
New Medium to Boost and Optimise the Production of AAV in Sf9 Insect Cells Announced
Lonza announces the launch of the TheraPEAK™ SfAAV™ Medium, the first chemically defined, non-animal origin medium designed specifically for the production of Adeno Associated Virus (AAV) in Spodoptera Fuigiperda (Sf9) insect cells for gene therapy applications. The new high- performance medium accelerates cell growth, increases productivity, and reduces process variability and costs, expediting time-to-market for safe, scalable, life-saving gene therapies. The unique benefits of the TheraPEAK™ SfAAV™ Medium, which marks the latest addition to Lonza’s TheraPEAK™ Family of cell culture media and reagents for cell and gene therapy applications, are summarised in an informative poster that can be downloaded for free from the Lonza website.
Lonza’s TheraPEAK™ SfAAV™ Medium has been explicitly designed to address this need, providing a cost and time efficient solution for the production of AAV in Sf9 insect cells. Allowing for rapid cell growth, the TheraPEAK™ SfAAV™ Medium reduces processing time significantly, enabling cell infection one day earlier than similar media available on the market, and boosting laboratory performance. Due to its chemically defined nature, the new hydrolysate free medium produces AAV that requires less purification, further decreasing the overall processing time and minimising labour requirements. Furthermore, the TheraPEAK™ SfAAV™ Medium supports consistent cell growth throughout all phases of the culturing process, considerably reducing process variability.
As a chemically defined, non-animal origin product, the TheraPEAK™ SfAAV™ Medium is safer to use than media containing animal or human components, thereby facilitating regulatory compliance. Additionally, the medium is supplied with a US Food and Drug Administration drug master file, alleviating the relevant preparation and submission burden.
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/zVwJ 52301pr@reply-direct.com
LFD Incorporates Aptamer Reagent for Virus Testing
A collaboration between Aptamer Group and Cytiva, (formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences), will combine the partners’ expertise in aptamer reagent development with flow technology to produce a Lateral Flow Device (LFD), said to be capable of generating results as a rapid test for COVID-19 infection in less than ten minutes.
The project, which will support scalable non-laboratory testing for virus infections such as COVID-19, highlights the growing prevalence aptamers will take in the process of screening of large numbers of people. Aptamers are synthetic molecules that are made from DNA or RNA that fold into unique three-dimensional structures that allow them to bind to targets with high affinity and high specificity.
The company will retain the intellectual property to its SARS-COVID 2 aptamer and rights to the final product developed by Cytiva.
Dr Arron Tolley, Chief Executive of Aptamer Group said “This collaboration with Cytiva is a significant step forward in the application of aptamers in virus testing. It is also a strong endorsement of the innovation and technology we are applying to help address the global pandemic with an effective, reliable test that delivers quick results. “Once developed, the new test can be deployed to point of care facilities worldwide. We are also looking into the opportunity to develop a home test version, which help increase the opportunity for rapid testing.”
Lee Jenkins, Senior Product Manager at Cytiva added: “We are pleased to support Aptamer Group’s work to develop a COVID-19 point of care diagnostic test. Aptamers are an economical and scalable technology making them very suitable for producing a diagnostic.”
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/vaD6 52991pr@reply-direct.com
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