Immudex

Immudex
Private
Industry Biotechnology
Predecessor Dako
Founded 2009
Headquarters Copenhagen, Denmark

Immudex is a small biotechnology company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has been operating independently since October 2009.[1] It specializes in the production of dextramers, chemical reagents that are designed to detect antigen-specific T-cells.[2][3] While the technology is currently sold for exclusive use in research settings, clinical applications are being actively pursued, with cytomegalovirus monitoring kits in development. Since producing large quantities of MHC I presents fewer challenges than generating MHC II, the company has focused primarily on identification of CD8+ T-cells.

History

Originally operated as an individual division within the much larger Danish pharmaceutical company Dako, Immudex was later spun out as a separate business when its parent company’s focus largely shifted to cancer treatments.[1][4] The company now has clients located mainly in the United States and Europe, but expansion of research initiatives in emerging markets such as China and Brazil has led to an increase in demand and opportunity for growth. Patents for the dextramer technology were filed at Dako in 2002, and the Immudex division was launched in 2005. In 2011, Immudex received the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year 2011” award in the Life Sciences category.[5]

Dextramer technology

Since the process of negative selection in the thymus guarantees that virtually all T cells have very weak affinity for self antigens, the study of these lymphocytes in autoimmune diseases and cancer has been difficult until the fairly recent introduction of MHC multimers. Tetramers, which are among the most popular form of these multimer complexes and have four binding sites, were originally developed in academia, but many further developments in this technology have taken place at biotechnology companies.[6] Immudex’s dextramers, which represent the latest advancement, provide an exponentially greater probability of successful isolation of antigen-specific T cells, with nine or more binding sites per dextran backbone. Scientists have been optimistic about the potential such technology has to broaden our understanding of T-cell responses and be used in clinical applications.[3]

Collaborations and partnerships

Though Immudex specializes in this dextramer technology, it is also pursuing projects in diagnostics and collaborating on a Gates Foundation-funded HIV vaccine study looking at women who are resistant to the virus due to pre-existing antibodies and T-cells against the foreign MHC.

In 2013, Immudex entered into a co-distribution and co-promotional partnership with JPT Peptide Technologies.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Immudex, a new spin-out from Dako" (Press release). Immudex ApS. October 9, 2009. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bakker, Arnold H.; Schumacher, Ton N. M. (August 2005). "MHC Multimer Technology: Current Status and Future Prospects". Curr. Opin. Immunol. 17 (4): 428–33. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2005.06.008. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Davis MM, Altman JD, Newell EW. “Interrogating the repertoire: broadening the scope of peptide-MHC multimer analysis”. Nat Rev Immunol. 2011 Jul 15;11(8):551-8. doi: 10.1038/nri3020.
  4. ↑ Børsen, Oct. 9th, 2009, Tom Frovst. "Milliardpotentiale i Dako-satsning". Copenhagen, DK. pg. 8.
  5. ↑ Ernst & Young, Nov. 24th, 2011. "Immudex vinder kategorien Life Sciences Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011". Copenhagen, DK.
  6. ↑ Altman, J.D. et al. “Phenotypic analysis of antigen-specific T lymphocytes.” Science, 274 (5284): October 1996, 94-96.
  7. ↑ "Products & Services". Gen. Eng. Biotechnol. News 33 (21). December 2013. p. 14.

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