Immunology firm ProImmune Ltd has announced a collaboration with The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Galveston National Laboratory (GNL), a high-containment, infectious disease research facility, to develop innovative tools for studying high-consequence emerging and endemic infectious diseases.
Under the agreement, ProImmune’s Ankyrons will be evaluated as molecular tools to enable precise detection, localisation, and functional interrogation of viral proteins across complex experimental systems compatible with high-containment research.
The collaboration combines ProImmune’s Ankyron target binding reagent technology with the GNL’s expertise in the immunopathology of emerging viruses. Studies will be carried out in the laboratory of Dr Courtney Woolsey which specialises in the study of emerging and endemic viral pathogens under maximum-containment conditions (BSL-4) to investigate viral protein function, immune dysregulation, and tissue-specific responses that inform the next-generation of vaccines and therapeutics. The teams will initially focus on validating Ankyrons specific for viral proteins from pathogens of major global health concern, including Bundibugyo virus, Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, Human Enterovirus 71, and Mpox virus (pictured above is a transmission electron microscopic image of Mpox virus particles).
Ankyrons are a novel class of small (~15 kDa), single-domain binding reagents based on an engineered ankyrin-repeat scaffold that enables high affinity and specificity for diverse protein targets. Generated through a fully in vitro, high-throughput selection process, Ankyrons can be rapidly identified, optimised, and produced without the need for animal immunisation, making them well suited for time-sensitive infectious disease research. Ankyrons are already available for 60 pathogens and disease vectors and can be rapidly developed for new and emerging disease targets.
Nikolai Schwabe, Chief Executive Officer of ProImmune, commented: “Ankyrons and our powerful automated high throughput parallel discovery platform are particularly well suited for demanding research environments such as emerging infectious diseases, enabling detection and interrogation of viral proteins and study of multiple rapidly emerging infectious diseases simultaneously. Working with the Woolsey laboratory at GNL allows us to validate these Ankyron reagents in biologically relevant systems and strengthen pandemic preparedness.”