EXTON, Pa., April 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department is funding a Pennsylvania biopharmaceutical company to support development of therapeutic antibodies against bio-warfare agents.
Morphotek, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., said the grant to support the continued development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies capable of neutralizing the toxic effects of botulinum neurotoxins is worth about $947,000.
In 2007, Morphotek was awarded $2.3 million in funding to support the initial development of these mAb therapies.
"The (Defense Department) funding will allow us to explore novel antibody formats capable of blocking the toxic effects of certain BOTN sub-types," said Luigi Grasso, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Morphotek. "(The Defense Department's) funding for this program demonstrates the importance of developing non-animal derived and safe biological therapies to treat potential exposure to different weaponized BOTN subtypes."
The funded program is in response to government efforts to develop therapies capable of protecting civilian and military personnel against exposure to pathogenic agents that can be deployed by rogue states or terrorists as bio-weapons.
Morphotek specializes in the development of protein and antibody products through the use of a novel and proprietary gene evolution technology.
