PI-Bio platform
Central technologies of PI-Bio are the dissection of viral proteins, the enhancement of their immunogenicity, and their use for pharmaceutical products. The advantages of using PI-Bio include the following.
- Safety：High safety because only a part of the viral protein is used instead of the virus itself.
- Cost：E-coli enables large-scale production of recombinant proteins at a low price.
- Development period：At PI-Bio, standard protocols are in place for the production, physical properties, and immunogenic analysis of recombinant proteins, and efficient development can be achieved in a short period of time.
- Effectiveness：PI-Bio targets protein domains critical for viral infection, such as the RBD (Receptor Binding Site; For details,refer to Core Technology1.). RBD contains an epitope region (neutralizing antibody recognition site) and is the binding site to the host cell receptor. As a result, RBD is highly likely to induce a neutralizing immune response and act as a vaccine antigen.
- Handiness：Proteins are non-toxic molecules and are thus easy to handle and can be stored at refrigeration temperatures for several months.
- Application：Products developed using PI-Bio are used for various applications, such as vaccine seeds, the production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, the detection of antigens and antibodies, and biochemical assays.
Core technology1
Focus on the Receptor Binding Domain(RBD) of their spike protein, which allows viruses to bind to host cells. RBD is created by protein engineering. The addition of an SCP tag* consisting of a few residues to RBDs enhances immunogenicity and induces immune memory. Anti-RBD serum is a prime vaccine seed candidate because of its neutralizing ability.*For details,refer to Core Technology2.
Core technology2
The SCP(Solubility Controlling Peptide) tag is a central piece of PI-Bio. Vaccine seeds developed by PI-Bio differ from conventional vaccines because they use not the virus itself but a viral protein fragment. The protein is expressed in E. coli, purified to a high purity, and used as the vaccine antigen. Protein fragments expressed in E. coli are inorganic molecules, non-toxic, and have overwhelming advantages over conventional vaccines regarding safety, price, and development speed. However, the immunogenicity of recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli is often weak, making it unfit to use them as vaccine antigens. Therefore, to the best of our knowledge, there is no subunit vaccine using protein domains expressed in E. coli as antigens. The SCP tag is the central technology used by PI-Bio. SCP tag dramatically improves the immunogenicity of proteins and induces the generation of antiserum with neutralizing ability. In addition to the SCP tag, PI-Bio includes technologies to dissect and produce viral protein domains without affecting their structure and function and rapidly generate monoclonal antibodies.
Examples of applications
- Subunit vaccines：Vaccines are developed in a short period of time by using subunits as vaccine seeds.
- mRNA/DNA vaccines：Design gene sequences at the level of subunits with enhanced immunogenicity and incorporate them into mRNA/DNA vaccines.
- Monoclonal antibodies：Monoclonal antibodies can be produced in the process of vaccine development using PI-Bio, and they can used for developing antiviral agents and test kits.
Related Patents and Intellectual Property Rights; Currently Owned by TUAT
- Technology to inexpensively express and purify subunits in E. coli and ensure quality and safety control.
- Technology to enhance the immunogenicity of subunits.
Patent No.5273438：Solubility calculation method for peptide-added biomolecules, and method for designing peptide tags and preventing inclusion body formation using the method
Patent No.7194442：Antigen composition