Unmet Need: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a leading cause of liver cancer worldwide. Although treatments have been developed, these drugs do not protect against reinfection and are often cost prohibitive to patients. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of an effective HCV vaccine. There is currently no efficient method to assess antibody responses to candidate vaccines.
Technical Details: Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a novel method to identify protective antibody responses associated with HCV clearance. Application of the high-throughput method allows for deconvolution of polyclonal anti-HCV neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in plasma and has identified broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) signatures that contribute to clearance of the virus. As shown in plasma from patients who naturally cleared infection, multiple bNAb combinations are associated with greater plasma neutralizing breadth and with HCV clearance. The method further delineates epitopes on the HCV envelope proteins that induce the identified bNAb signatures associated with clearance. In addition, the high-throughput method can be used to assess HCV vaccine efficacy through determination of bNAb signatures elicited by vaccine candidates.
Value Proposition:
- High-throughput method to assess bNAb signatures associated with HCV clearance
- Method can also identify effective HCV bNAb responses after vaccination trials
Looking for Partners to: Develop & commercialize the technology as a novel method to assess antibody responses to candidate HCV vaccines.
Stage of Development: Pre-Clinical
Data Availability: Method validated using HCV infected human plasma
Inventors: Justin Bailey, Valerie Kinchen, Guido Massaccesi, Stuart Ray, Andrea Cox
Patent Status: US Pending
Publication(s): Kinchen VJ, Massaccesi G, Flyak AI, Mankowski MC, Colbert MD, Osburn WO, Ray SC, Cox AL, Crowe JE, Bailey JR. (2019) Plasma deconvolution identifies broadly neutralizing antibodies associated with hepatitis C virus clearance. J CLin Invest 129(11):4786-4796.
