Under the Rapid Antibody-Based Biological Countermeasures (RAbBC program), which began in March 2004 with an initial $1.4 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Verenium has been applying its proprietary high-throughput proteomics and antibody optimization technologies with two main goals: (1) Identify important protein targets for new vaccines and antibody therapies; and (2) Create optimized antibodies to detect and neutralize anthrax infections.
During the first year of the RAbBC program, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Verenium successfully identified multiple candidate proteins that may be associated with the anthrax infection process. These anthrax targets were evaluated under the second year of the program, together with new targets identified by Verenium that may be associated with the plague infection process.
During the first year of the RAbBC program, Verenium also successfully used its patented Gene Site Saturation Mutagenesis™ (GSSM™) and GeneReassembly™ evolution technologies to generate multiple new antibody candidates against the B. anthracis capsule that have higher specificity and increased binding activity. Under the second year of the RAbBC program, Verenium generated novel antibodies with potentially enhanced abilities to diagnose and neutralize anthrax infections.
