The following technologies are available for licensing.
Call 1.860.953.1164 or email jbacker@sibtech.com for additional information.
Targeted delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents might significantly decrease systemic toxicity, increase efficacy of new and old drugs, support development of personalized medicine, and provide new uses for existing therapeutic proteins. Although many proteins can be used for targeted delivery, random conjugation of a "payload" to a protein creates heterogeneous products that are not well-suited for development and for regulatory approval. This invention eliminates random conjugation and provides a strategy for development of functionally active, homogeneous protein-based products. In this strategy, a protein is expressed with a humanized 15-aa cysteine-containing tag (Cys-tag), and a payload is site-specifically conjugated to a cysteine residue in Cys-tag via thiol-directed chemistries. Cys-tag is compatible with every protein tested so far, and accommodates payloads as different as drugs, contrast agents, dendrimers, liposomes, and functional proteins.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the key regulator of angiogenesis and overexpressed VEGF receptors play the crucial role in the onset and progression of tumor angiogenesis. receptors are the primary targets of tremendous efforts to develop inhibitors of angiogenesis. However, these receptors are not used as biomarkers for prescribing or monitoring anti-angiogenic therapy due to a lack of methods for assessment of their prevalence. This invention provides molecular probes for PET, SPECT, and NIRF imaging VEGF receptors. The probes are based on a novel single-chain VEGF (scVEGF) expressed with a proprietary cysteine-containing tag for site-specific conjugation of contrast agents. VEGF-based probes bind to and internalized by VEGF receptors as effectively as parental VEGF, providing unique opportunities for non-invasive imaging VEGF receptors in vivo. Information on prevalence of VEGF receptors in patients might lead to evidence-based selection of candidates for anti-angiogenic therapy, facilitate design of personalized treatment regiments, enable early diagnostics and discrimination between benign and malignant lesions.
Call 1.860.953.1164 or email jbacker@sibtech.com for additional information.