Antigen Identification - Isis Project No 4377

Protective antigen-finding technology for the rapid development of new vaccines.

Identification Method

Oxford researchers have developed a method that rapidly identifies the core effective antigens in complex mixtures at a fraction of the time and cost of current methods. The technology is based on an in-vivo limiting dilution system that enables the identification of antigens that not only elicit an immune response, but also provide appropriate protection against pathogenic challenge. Furthermore, the approach can identify cohorts of antigens simultaneously, irrespective of the mechanism of protection.

Vaccine Preparation

The immune system reacts against many antigens that are not effective. Hence, any antigen screen based on “measured response” has the fundamental problem of identifying non-effective antigens, resulting in costly false leads in vaccine development. The new technology uses protection (or any other selected outcome) as part of the screen, therefore antigens discovered using this system are “prevalidated” as effective. This is a major step forward in rational antigen discovery for vaccines and other immunotherapies.

Although the system was developed to identify antigens in pathogens, the technology can be modified to identify the effective components in complex vaccine preparations or in other conditions that are immune mediated (e.g. tumour immunology or allergy).

Patent Status

The core technology is subject to a number of patent applications. Isis would like to talk to parties interested in commercialising this technology. Please contact the Project Manager using the link below.

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