HLA Typing - Isis Project No 3337
A novel, reliable and highly cost-effective method of gaining an understanding of the structure of an individual’s HLA profile
MARKETING OPPORTUNITY
1. Available for licensing is a software programme, which allows the mapping and prediction – with a minimum of between 90 and 95% accuracy of an individual’s HLA II type, based on any of the widely available DNA chip platforms. For any screening programme, this allows a huge reduction in the number of individuals who actually have to be typed, and consequently a considerable cost saving. This will be of particular interest to drug companies, manufacturers of SNP arrays, users of SNP arrays and those involved in the investigation and treatment of autoimmune disease. It will also be of interest to those involved in understanding and predicting prognosis and disease progression, and to drug developers. It also has considerable application in vaccine trial covariance and clinical study understanding.
THE OXFORD INVENTION
2. An algorithm and statistical software for probabilistic prediction of alleles at classical HLA loci has been developed that allows the determination of the HLA serotype presented by an individual, without the current array of expensive, and often inaccurate, typing methods and technologies. Tissue typing is used in a wide range of biological and medical fields, particularly in relation to screening individuals for transplantation etc. To HLA type an individual currently costs approximately £500, making screening programmes particularly costly. Further, while routine serological methods are reliable for HLA class I typing, they are currently uncertain for HLA class II typing partly owing to the poor quality of the antisera used. Since HLA class II typing is important for BMT, a more accurate method for HLA II typing is needed. If the mutation rate and the recombination frequency at any given locus are known then it is possible to calculate the likely path through the gene. This means that only a minimal set of markers are required for a prediction of the complete region. This avoids the use of tagging methods that require knowledge of what has been investigated previously and expands the possibilities for typing in a highly cost-effective manner.
PATENT STATUS
This work is the subject of patent application, and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents. Please contact Dr David Phillips, Project Manager, at Isis Innovation Ltd. to discuss this further.