Immunology

Zyrogen is a receptor expressed by the stromal cells found in bone marrow and lymph nodes. Stromal cells are rich in secreted and cell surface proteins that influence the development and mature functioning of the immune system and bone. Studies performed at Genesis have shown that administration of Zyrogen to mice induces an autoimmune-like disorder with many of the hallmarks of human autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjogrens syndrome (SS). More recently it has been shown that Zyrogen is overexpressed in prostate cancer and solid tumours affecting other reproductive organs.

In October 2007, we entered into a research collaboration with MorphoSys AG, an international developer of therapeutic human antibodies with more than 40 antibody programmes including four in clinical development. Genesis will use HuCAL-based antibodies generated by the MorphoSys business unit AbD Serotec against Zyrogen for target validation and pre-clinical studies.

The ability of our lead HuCAL antibody to inhibit prostate cancer growth is currently being tested in xenograft tumour models

MED-1™

Screening of the genome of Mycobacterium vaccae, a non-pathogenic soil bacterium, identified DNA fragments coding for proteins that can be recognised by the immune system. Eight fragments of DNA were selected from the extensive search as the best tuberculosis vaccine candidates. This technology is currently available for licensing.