The University of Lausanne is offering this technology for licensing or for collaboration.
The technologies are a vaccine target and an adhesion screening method.
Development Phase :
Proof of principle - lab prototype
Patent Status :
A provisional patent application has been filed in September 2000.
Patent Attorney : Mintz & Levin, Boston, USA
Novelty and Benefits :
- Members of this new protein family may expressed by several other Gram positive pathogens and may therefore represent a relatively general target for therapeutic intervention.
- A new method to screen for bacterial adhesins on different supports, such as implants.
Additional information is available upon request.
Contact :
Marjory Hunt, PhD
tel: +41-21-314-4958
Office of Technology Transfer
University of Lausanne and University Hospitals
21, Rue du Bugnon
Ch-1005 Lausanne /Switzerland
e-mail: marjory.hunt@hospvd.ch
New Family of Gram Positive Pathogen Adhesins as Therapeutic Targets.
Improved Method for the Detection of Pathogen Adherence Factors.
(Ref. Number IDF 7.00 )
The Technology :
SfpA is an important staphylococcal adhesin promoting colonisation and infection of host tissues. SpfB is a surface protein with internal motifs common to staphylococcus but also in certain streptococci surface proteins.
These two surface determinants were detected and cloned using a new method : the ' adoptive pathogenesis ' method.
Applications :
Members of this new protein family may be expressed by several other Gram positive pathogens and may therefore represent a relatively general target for therapeutic intervention.
Another application of this technology is a screening method for adhesive properties of prosthesis material towards bacteria.
