Burlingame, California (October 23, 2008) , The USPTO this month issued to Epitomics Inc. patent no. 7,429,487, which covers the next generation of cells for producing rabbit monoclonal antibodies and further establishes Epitomics’ unique position as the rabbit monoclonal antibody company.
Epitomics, exclusive maker of RabMAb® monoclonal antibodies, is the commercial source of rabbit monoclonal antibodies, with customers around the world, including major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, research labs and universities. US patent no. 7,429,487 - entitled “Fusion Partner For Production of Monoclonal Antibodies” - protects the next generation fusion partner used to make rabbit monoclonal antibodies.
To produce monoclonal antibodies from any animal, spleen cells from the animal are fused to a so-called fusion partner - an immortalized B-lymphocyte - to produce hybridomas that produce antibodies. The hybridomas are then screened to identify cells that produce valuable antibodies.
The claims of Epitomics’ patent cover any rabbit-derived fusion partner that does not produce immunoglobulin heavy chain, as well as methods of using the same to produce monoclonal antibodies. The patent is significant because a hybridoma produced using Epitomics’ patented fusion partner has increased antibody production, and no contamination from the immunoglobulin heavy chain of the fusion partner.
“We are very pleased with this patent,” said Dr. Guo-Liang Yu, CEO of Epitomics. “Since producing high quality rabbit monoclonal antibodies would be difficult, if not impossible, without our patented fusion partner, we believe this patent solidifies our position as the world’s dominant leader in the production of rabbit monoclonal antibodies, and rabbit monoclonal antibodies demonstrate significant advantages over mouse antibodies in every meaningful category: affinity, specificity, and bioavailability.”
Users of monoclonal antibodies are increasingly choosing RabMAb®. “We have chosen Epitomics’ RabMAbs for bringing clinical diagnostics to market because of the consistent spectacular staining we see when using rabbit monoclonal antibodies,” said Dr. Douglas T. Ross, Chief Scientific Officer of Applied Genomics, Inc.
About Epitomics
Epitomics, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company, is dedicated to developing breakthrough monoclonal antibody technology for research, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The Company utilizes a unique and proprietary RabMAb® (Rabbit Monoclonal Antibody) technology which produces antibodies with superior binding affinity and bioactivity in a wide variety of biological assays. Epitomics, Inc. (www.epitomics.com) is headquartered in Burlingame, California, and operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China.
