iBio, Inc. this week announced issuance of a U.S. patent covering compositions of matter and methods of producing and formulating anthrax vaccines. The new patent is entitled “Bacillus Anthracis Antigens, Vaccine Compositions and Related Methods,” and is based on an invention developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, iBio’s research collaborator.
The company’s proprietary platform is for the development and production of biologics using transient gene expression in unmodified green plants. The technology has shown success with proteins difficult to produce with other methods; is broadly applicable to biologics, including monoclonal antibodies, other therapeutic proteins and vaccines; and enables rapid development and validation of modular, scalable, and optionally robotic, multi-product manufacturing facilities.
“This new patent broadens protected uses of iBio’s proprietary iBioLaunch™ platform and also expands the Company’s portfolio of assets relevant to bio-defense applications, such as our successful preclinical vaccine for plague and a proprietary antibody for anthrax,” said Terence Ryan, Ph.D., iBio’s Chief Scientific Officer.
Data published in peer-reviewed scientific journals previously demonstrated protection of non-human primates from anthrax spores by a proprietary antibody produced with the company’s proprietary iBioLaunch™ technology. Additional data confirmed protection of non-human primates from pneumonic plague by a proprietary vaccine incorporating iBioModulator technology produced via the iBioLaunch platform.
A key benefit of this plant-based vaccine technology is a practically unlimited surge capacity for remedial action against bioterrorism and pandemic disease. The speed at which different proteins can be expressed and produced at commercial scale presents a significant advantage for public safety in an emergency outbreak or exposure situation.
