SBIR Phase I: Nanoparticle Enhanced Antibody Production

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of using nanoparticles as an adjuvant for enhanced antibody production. A number of adjuvants are commercially available for use in animals to boost antibody production, but most of them pose potential hazards such as excessive inflammation leading to the formation of chronic granulomas, sterile abscesses, and/or ulcerating tissue necrosis. Most importantly, low antibody titer causes lower yield of antibody, which increases the need to use more animals to produce antibodies. Thus, in Phase I of this project, we will study the effects of cadmium-free nanoparticle structure, surface coating, size, surface charge, and antigen density on animal immunogenicity. We will optimize the formulation of the nanoadjuvant (covalent or charge-charge nanoparticle-antigen interaction) and study the bio-affinity of the antibodies produced. We expect that the proposed nanoadjuvant will increase the immunogenicity of the antigen and that the antibody titer will be 10 times higher than that without the nanoadjuvant. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project relies on antibody products that are the fastest growing, most active, and most promising class of pharmaceuticals, especially with the growth of human immunotherapy. The worldwide revenues of antibody-based therapeutic treatments generated around $20 billion in 2007 and were growing at 14% a year. Antibodies belong to a safe and target-specific category of pharmaceuticals that have a relatively high success rate from early clinical studies to licensure. The proposed inorganic nanoparticle-based adjuvant can dramatically increase the immunogenicity of antigens and produce high antibody titers. Successful development of this project will greatly reduce the cost of antibody production to benefit human healthcare and biomedical research. Furthermore, it can eliminate pain, inflammation and other side effects to animal, as well as reduce the number of animals used.