EpiVax develops immunogenicity tool with URI, Dartmouth

THE CHOPPI IMMUNOGENICITY tool developed by EpiVax Inc. with University of Rhode Island and Dartmouth College researchers will help protein engineers assess safety risks during the production of protein-based therapeutics.
THE CHOPPI IMMUNOGENICITY tool developed by EpiVax Inc. with University of Rhode Island and Dartmouth College researchers will help protein engineers assess safety risks during the production of protein-based therapeutics.

PROVIDENCE – Through collaboration with researchers at the University of Rhode Island and Dartmouth College, biotech firm EpiVax Inc. has developed a new Web-based tool that predicts the likelihood that a protein-based therapeutics will induce an adverse response in patients, avoiding safety problems that caused the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to suspend a clinical trial in 2012.
Protein therapeutics are often produced in living host cells such as Chinese Hamster Ovary cells, or CHO cells. Despite ongoing improvements to the manufacturing process, CHO host-cell proteins can sometimes contaminate the final product, EpiVax said, which even at very low levels may compromise the safety and efficacy of the protein therapeutic.
The newly developed tool, known as CHO Protein Predicted Immunogenicity or CHOPPI, allows protein therapeutic manufacturers to search through a collection of proteins and genetic information on CHO host cells and quickly access data on how immunogenic and “human-like” a protein is in comparison to others.
“Given the enormous growth in cell-culture-derived proteins for the treatment of human diseases, the immunogenicity of culture contaminants has emerged as a significant concern for the biotechnology industry,” said Dr. Anne S. De Groot, CEO of EpiVax.
The CHOPPI tool is a direct result of URI’s investment in a public-private partnership with EpiVax through the URI Institute for Immunology and Informatics, EpiVax said. Dartmouth professor Dr. Chris Bailey Kellog spent one year at the iCubed working with De Groot to develop the CHOPPI design EpiVax had conceptualized.
EpiVax and Dartmouth researchers expect the tool will have significant value for protein engineers looking to assess safety risks quickly and accurately, and EpiVax plans to develop the tool further to include other common production host-cell lines.
The current beta version of CHOPPI is still available for academic users through URI at www.immunome.org and will be available for commercial use through EpiVax at www.epivax.com.
For more information on accessing CHOPPI for commercial use, contact bwinterroth@epivax.com.

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