MRC technology behind new medical developments
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE
MRC/49/09
Friday 24 July 2009
Scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), in Cambridge have played key roles in the technology behind two recent announcements involving anthrax treatments and a promising new drug for lupus.
Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline have recently announced positive Phase 3 study results for Benlysta™ (belimumab) in systemic lupus erythematosus. Belimumab is a human monoclonal antibody which was initially developed in acollaboration between Cambridge Antibody Technology (an MRC start-up company) and HGS using combinatorial antibody library technology, originally invented at the LMB and the Scripps Research Institute (San Diego).
Human Genome Sciences has also announced a new $151 million order for Raxibacumab (Abthrax™) from the U.S. government. Raxibacumab, a human monoclonal antibody, is a first-in-class treatment for anthrax, again developed in collaboration between Cambridge Antibody Technology and HGS.
This development shows the importance of antibodies as biologics, a key area of research pursued by MRC Technology and MRC. It also highlights the strong economic impact such drugs can have. The worldwide market for drugs based on antibody technology was believed to be over $24 billion in 2007.
In 1975 LMB scientists Dr César Milstein and Dr Georges Köhler devised a way to isolate and reproduce monoclonal antibodies from among the multitude of different antibody proteins that the immune system makes to seek and destroy foreign invaders attacking the body. They won the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of this ground-breaking work.
Monoclonal antibodies began to reveal their full therapeutic potential in 1986, when MRC researcher Sir Greg Winter, also at the LMB, pioneered a technique to ‘humanise’ mouse monoclonal antibodies. This made them better suited to human medical use as they were much less likely to elicit an inappropriate immune response in patients. Sir Greg’s technology has since been licensed to around 50 companies.
For further information please contact Nicola Osmond-Evans in the MRC Press Office on 020 7670 5138 or press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
- MRCT is the exclusive commercialisation catalyst for the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), working to translate cutting edge scientific discoveries into commercial products. MRCT bridges the gap between innovative basic science and making medicine. By providing both chemical tools and therapeutic antibody candidates, we give pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies new starting points for drug discovery and development, based on MRC advances in science.
- The Medical Research Council is dedicated to improving human health through excellent science. It invests on behalf of the UK taxpayer. Its work ranges from molecular level science to public health research, carried out in universities, hospitals and a network of its own units and institutes. The MRC liaises with the Health Departments, the National Health Service and industry to take account of the public’s needs. The results have led to some of the most significant discoveries in medical science and benefited the health and wealth of millions of people in the UK and around the world. www.mrc.ac.uk
- Lupus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can affect virtually any system in the body. For more information visit www.uklupus.co.uk
Press contact: 020 7637 6011
press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
