Human antibodies successfully produced from cloned cattle
Contracting diseases, infections or various cancers often looms in the minds of many, with the hope for new antibodies and cures constantly present.
That’s where Hematech, a small biotechnology company founded in 1998, steps into the picture.
Jim Robl, president and CSO of Hematech, presented a short seminar about producing human antibodies from cloned cattle at NDSU Friday.
Robl is the first to clone cattle from adult cells. Sheep are the only other animals to be successfully cloned.
The primary focus of Hematech is to develop a system for production of human polyclonal antibodies.
The company wants to fill a niche for intravenous infusion immunoglobulin, which provides immunity against disease.
Plasma, which provides immunoglobulin, is used for a variety of very important applications.
“ The immunoglobulin is used for replacements for people with genetic immunodeficiencies and also for pediatric HIV infections and chronic B Cell leukemia,” Robl said.
This is a product that has been around for a long time and has a long history of successful therapeutic application with minimal side effects, Robl said.
In this case, polyclonal antibodies come from humans.
Hyper immunes, on the other hand, come from animals and humans. Anti-venoms and anti-rabies vaccines are examples.
Monoclonal vaccines total $36 billion in sales each year, with hundreds of monoclonal vaccines in development for cancer and other diseases, Robl said.
Hematech feels that a human polyclonal produced in cows can fill a niche by primarily replacing some compounds and expanding the area in therapeutics dramatically.
If Hematech can immunize a cow repeatedly to get human antibodies very high, then the company could use the antibodies to treat a wide variety of infectious diseases, cancer and other immune diseases, Robl said.
“This is a very important niche that needs to be filled,” he said.
The challenging part is putting a system together.
At Hematech, the primary objective is to make a transchromosomic cow, which requires extensive genetic modifications. Fiberglass cells are used to clone an embryo, which is then used to clone a cow.
The company is also looking at formulating vaccines and working on immunization protocols with the cows for a variety of therapeutics.
Human machines are used to retrieve plasma from the cows.
Although Hematech is more effectively a research and development company, they are trying to put the entire production package together to put this product on the market and into clinics to immunize patients.
A microchromosome transfer is used as an effort to put in the immuno genes to make an antibody molecule.
Sequential gene modification has enabled Hematech to make up to four modifications on cells very quickly without ever having to make a cow.
Hematech produced eight calves with three sequential cloning steps, and the calves are still living.
Hematech has done successful targeting of silent genes and calves have been successfully produced.
However, Hematech has made cows with five rounds of re-cloning. Beyond five rounds is difficult to clone.
A committee that represents industry and animal welfare organizations and pro and con on products has been through Hematech.
Hematech is trying to stay proactive by addressing issues, giving presentations and having animal welfare groups visit their site.
Hematech, which relocated to Sioux Falls, S.D., in 1999, is where Robl first focused his cloning work with cows.
He wanted to put the cloning techniques to use as quickly as possible.
Kerin, a company with similar interests and a pharmaceutical division, purchased Hematech in 2005.
Hematech has animal facilities in Iowa and Harrisburg with more than 65 employees.