AUSTIN, Texas — Pure Transplant Solutions, LLC (PTS), a collaboration driven biotechnology company focused on the development of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-based diagnostics and therapeutics within the field of transplantation, is proud to announce that it has entered into a research collaboration with Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus to develop new technologies for B-cell monitoring in transplant rejection.
The research is being led by Drs. Oriol Bestard and Rico Buchli and focuses on the detection of alloreactive memory B cells for pre-transplant risk stratification and post-transplant monitoring. Recognition of non-self HLA gives rise to the formation of HLA-specific memory B cells which precede circulating HLA antibodies. Importantly, such HLA-specific memory B cells can be present even in the absence of detectable serum antibodies, being an additional rejection risk factor in transplantation. Memory B cells are responsible for immunological recall responses by differentiating into antigen-specific antibody-producing cells upon re-encounter with a miss-matched antigen.
“This collaboration with PTS validates the tremendous need for appropriate and routinely applicable assays to detect and visualize the presence and HLA specificity of alloreactive memory B cells in solid organ transplant patients, which may ultimately help improve current alloimmune-risk stratification,” Dr. Bestard stated.
“Today, the immunological risk of an individual transplant patient is mainly assessed by detection of HLA antibodies in the serum, which are produced by long lived bone marrow-residing plasma cells. At PTS, we envision that in addition to serum HLA antibody detection, HLA-specific memory B cell assays will serve as supplemental tools to determine risk factors and help improve individual patient management,” said Dr. Buchli.
Steve Mayer MD, Chief Medical Officer at PTS stated, “We’re very excited about the potential of this technology because it allows a very early diagnostic view of an individual’s risk of rejection before any graft damage has occurred. Also, the technology is likely to have a significant impact on clinical utility with high predictive values.”
About Pure Transplant Solutions, LLC
Pure Transplant Solutions, LLC was founded in 1999 in order to leverage the leading research in HLA protein of parent company, Pure Protein, LLC, into solutions to address a growing list of needs in organ transplantation. Visit: https://www.puretransplant.com/.
About Pure Protein, LLC
Pure Protein, L.L.C. is a biotechnology company funded and managed by Emergent Technologies, Inc. that is focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary technologies related to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system, formed and exclusively licensed from the University of Oklahoma. Pure Protein, in conjunction with its affiliates and subsidiaries, aims to bring novel therapies and diagnostic tools to patients across a wide range of application areas spanning from therapeutic development in the fields of oncology, autoimmunity, and infectious disease, to antibody mediated rejection in transplantation.
Through its ecommerce website, https://www.hlaprotein.com/, Pure Protein offers academic and commercial researchers the ability to purchase individual HLA reagents to detect, profile, and monitor allele-specific immune responses, as well as HLA peptide epitope binding services to aide in improving the design of vaccination and therapeutic targeting strategies.
About Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus
We are a leading healthcare campus encompassing all fields of health: from healthcare and research to teaching and management. The Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus is the combination of our five entities: the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO), the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (CEMCAT) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
We are constantly in touch with patients; our starting point is the challenges they present in our day-to-day work to continue to innovate and find new diagnostic methods and treatments. The talented team that has made us a leading institution allows us to work towards attracting excellence and training the best professionals in clinical practice.
Related link: https://www.puretransplant.com/
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