PROIMMUNE Launches New MHC-Peptide Binding Assay for Class I HLA Alleles

ProImmune has announced the launch of its new MHC-peptide binding assay for Class II HLA alleles, adding to the series of discovery services for Class I HLA already available from the Company.

The new Class II REVEAL™ binding assay for HLA alleles DR1-4 is a powerful cell-free in vitro assay that can rapidly predict T-cell antigens in any protein sequence.

It is widely applicable across many disease areas such as cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmunity and in transplantation, and is ideally suited to therapeutic programmes with time pressures, such as the development of vaccines for emerging diseases.

Unlike traditional methods for discovering T-cell antigens, such as functional cellular assays, the Class II REVEAL™ assay does not use precious patient samples, and uniquely determines the HLA restriction of each antigen in a single step. Class II REVEAL™ therefore offers a significant timesaving advantage, and reduces the overall cost and risk of discovery projects.

The launch of Class II REVEAL™ follows ProImmune’s recent extension of its range of MHC Class II Ultimer™ staining reagents with alleles DR2 and DR3 to cover HLA DR1 to 4.

Class II Ultimers™ can be used to conclusively validate antigens discovered with REVEAL™, and in further monitoring and phenotyping of targeted immune responses, for example, in clinical trials.

The new assay will be available to customers from the end of October 2007.

Commenting on the launch, Dr. Nikolai Schwabe, CEO of ProImmune, said: “Class II REVEAL™ helps to overcome a significant barrier in understanding key helper T-cell immune responses in detail, and to harness such responses in the design of highly targeted therapies across a very wide range of diseases.

The launch of Class II REVEAL™ underlines our strategy to provide high quality products and services that are flexible to meet customer needs and improve understanding of the immune system.”