8/24/2020
Intense time-trial is developed to obtain the best vaccine anti-COVID-19. Two organisms, one from the UK (Oxford University) and another from China (CanSino Biologics) have achieved the most promising results so far. An adenovirus vector produces both vaccines (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and Adenovirus Type 5 Vector respectively) (from chimp and human), a non-replicating viral vector, which avoids all type of infection risks in humans. However, it is particularly noteworthy, that not only these two studies but most of the developing ones are using the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein as the leading player of this time trial. Different formats have been used to prepare/release this protein, as a purified recombinant protein, as a non-replicating viral vector (as the two more advanced attempts described above) or as a messenger RNA (mRNA)–based vaccine.
(...)
View more
4/8/2020
At this moment of the pandemic, a very critical point is to know if each of us is immunised and at the same time if is contagious or no. To know if people are immunised against COVID-19 is essential information to be able to undo this state of quarantine in which we are immersed. Only people who have been infected, but are already non-contagious, could return to their normal lives, allowing a progressive return to our previous routine. For this reason, it is essential to analyse the antibody load that each person presents. Therefore, the combined of an RT-PCR + a rapid serological test (for antibodies detection) is what should be imposed as a requirement to return to normality. First, a serological test could tell us if we have antibodies against the virus and only in the case we have specific antibodies in our blood, a confirmation by RT-PCR will be required to ensure that we are not infectious. A positive IgG with an already negative IgM, practically wouldn´t require confirmation by RT-PCR, but sometimes the virus or its proteins are maintained in blood for longer time. Thus, there exist different possibilities:
(...)
View more
2/24/2020
On 31 December 2019, WHO was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) was identified as the causative virus by Chinese authorities on 7 January. As part of WHO’s response to the outbreak, the R&D has been activated to accelerate diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus.
Figure 1. Coronavirus, 2020. Illustration by David S. Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank doi: 10.2210/rcsb_pdb/goodsell-gallery-019
(...)
View more
2/13/2020
Native antigens are extracted in their natural form from the corresponding source. Recombinant antigens are instead manufactured artificially. A common method of achieving this is to transform the heterologous expression system with a vector expressing the protein of interest, following which the expressed protein can be purified from the culture broth.
(...)
View more
9/9/2019
Figure 1. Chimeras
At Rekom Biotech, we have specialized in the design and production of next-generation antigens: chimeras or antigens composed of multiple epitopes, which have improved their antigenic properties, such as sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, one main advantage of the multi-epitope chimeric antigens is avoiding the use of protein mixtures in your assay. The limited number of binding sites and the different affinities of proteins for these sites could result in reproducibility issues.
(...)
View more
