Date: 2013-01-29
Type of information: Collaboration agreement
Compound: intellectual property related to T-cell based assays and to UREA and SPOT® technologies
Company: Lophius Biosciences (Germany) Oxford Immunotec (UK)
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases - Immunological diseases
Type agreement: collaboration
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: Oxford Immunotec, a medical diagnostic company developing tests in the fields of infectious and immunological disease, and Lophius Biosciences, a leader in the field of novel T-cell based diagnostic test systems, have signed agreements under which both companies will have access to certain intellectual property from the other party. Oxford Immunotec will be able to develop and commercialize novel T-cell based assays using Lophius´ proprietary UREA technology in certain territories. Lophius Biosciences will be able to develop and commercialize novel T-cell based assays under a license to Oxford Immunotec\'s proprietary T-SPOT® technology.
The UREA technology is an method to enhance the T cell stimulatory characteristics of proteins and allows the sensitive detection of a broad spectrum of clinically relevant populations of effector cells. UREA-treated proteins are processed not only in the exogenous signaling pathway (MHC II) but also in the endogenous pathway (MHC I) of functional antigen-presenting cells, activating T-helper cells as well as cytotoxic T cells. The technology has recently led to development of two CE-marked tests, namely T-Track® CMV and T-Track® EBV. These T-Track® tests are based on the in vitro stimulation of mononuclear cells of the peripheral blood (PBMC) with UREA-formulated, virus-specific proteins. Unlike untreated proteins, these have the ability to simultaneously restimulate a broad spectrum of clinically relevant populations of effector cells (T-helper and cytotoxic T cells and via a bystander activation NK and NKT cells) in a mostly HLA independent way. The reactivated, IFN-? secreting effector cells are subsequently quantified by ELISpot technology. This highly sensitive test method makes it possible to detect secreted cytokines as specific markers of the immune response on the level of individual cells. Two different UREA-formulated proteins (CMV- tegument protein pp65 and IE-1 immediate early-protein 1) are used to stimulate CMV-specific blood leukocytes with the T-Track® CMV kit. Two different UREA-formulated proteins, EBV nuclear protein EBNA-3A and BZLF1 which causes a switchover from the latent to the lytic stage of the virus, are used to stimulate EBV-specific blood leukocytes with the T-Track® EBV kit.
The patented T-SPOT® technology is a FDA-approved method for directly quantifying antigen-specific T cells. T-SPOT technology is a simple and extremely accurate method of studying a person’s cellular immune response. It is based on the ELISpot (enzyme-linked immunospot) technique, which has been widely used for over two decades. The T-SPOT technology platform can also be applied to diagnose and monitor any disease driven by a T cell response. The technology is particularly pertinent where current methods of monitoring and diagnosing disease, such as traditional antibody tests, have proved to be inadequate.
Financial terms: Financial terms were not disclosed.
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