Super antibodies which enter right into a cell and attack bacteria and viruses

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 26 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT


A team of Canadian scientists are developing super antibodies which enter right into a cell and attack bacteria and viruses. They say this development will lead to a completely new range of treatments.

The scientists say that these super antibodies could perhaps target such cells as HIV and destroy them. It could be primed to attack virtually any type of cell.

Antibodies are hard to develop. You cannot consume them orally if you want any effect as they do not survive in the stomach. Therefore, they have to be injected.

These new super antibodies would be able to achieve much more than the small molecules of traditional drugs. This new antibody would be very specific and discriminating. It would have fewer side-effects than conventional drugs because it is so specific and is not inherently toxic.

According to scientists at InNexus Biotechnology, of Vancouver, Canada, a simple chemical modification allows the antibody to move in and out of cells until it finds its target. InNexus Biotechnology is developing these super antibodies.

This modification is a short protein segment, normally found in signalling proteins such as growth factors that can enter cells.

The scientists found that the super antibody enters all cells but only builds up in those cells it has been primed to target.

Charles Morgan, president of InNexus Biotechnology, said: "Most good targets for diseases are inside cells."

Some experts say the market for super antibodies could reach about $15 billion a year.

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