OstriGen Announces New Study Using Ostrich Antibodies In The Treatment Of C. Difficile Infection

WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- OstriGen Inc. is announcing a collaborative study with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), on the use of orally administered ostrich antibodies in the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. C. difficile is resistant to multiple antibiotics, and it is now the single leading cause of hospital-acquired bacterial infection, becoming the deadliest enteric pathogen in the developed world.

Ostriches are the oldest bird species on the planet, and their immune system is unusually powerful, rapidly producing antibodies to all kinds of antigens. Hen ostriches produce these antibodies in enormous quantity in the yolks of their eggs, opening a wide range of applications that cannot be addressed by traditional immunotherapy. Oral treatment against enteric pathogens is a particular target of opportunity, since, unlike the antibodies of other species, ostrich antibodies are impervious to acid and digestive enzymes.

The study will focus on the effectiveness of antibodies to C. difficile toxins.  Inactivated toxins produced at BIDMC's C. difficile Laboratory have been injected into ostriches at OstriGen's facilities in Japan, and the ostriches have successfully developed antibodies to the inactivated toxins. These antibodies will next be tested against the active toxins at the C. difficile Laboratory.

Study collaborators include Ciaran Kelly, MD, and Xinhua Chen, PhD, of BIDMC and Dr. Yasuhiro Tsukamoto at Kyoto Prefectural University, Japan. According to Dr. Kelly, "We think that immunotherapy employing oral ingestion of ostrich antibodies could be an effective, economic prophylaxis and treatment for C. difficile infection, fitting into a treatment spectrum between vaccination and antibiotics." Dr. Tsukamoto has stated that "ostrich antibodies have been developed for oral treatment of several viral and bacterial enteric diseases, and we believe C. diff toxin antibodies will work as well." Dr. Tsukamoto is also collaborating with the U. S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in the study of ostrich antibody countermeasures to Ebola, MERS, and Zika.

About OstriGen Inc.

OstriGen Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts, was formed in 2015 to develop and commercialize ostrich antibodies against a wide range of pathogens and allergens. http://www.ostrigen.com.

Contact: Stu Greenberg, OstriGen, 136408@email4pr.com, 617-905-4805

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SOURCE OstriGen Inc.