Cost-effective production of a vaginal protein microbicide to prevent HIV transmission

*Departament de Producció Vegetal i Ciència Forestal, Universitat de Lleida, Avenida Alcalde Rovira Roure, 191, Lleida, 25198, Spain;
^†Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, Biology VII, RWTH Aachen, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany;
^‡Department of Chemistry, Glycobiology Division, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria;
^§Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55 Athens, Greece;
^¶Polymun Scientific, Nussdorfer Laende 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria;
^‖Saint George's University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, United Kingdom; and
**Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain

Communicated by M. S. Swaminathan, Taramani Institutional Area, Madras, India, September 22, 2007 (received for review July 24, 2007)

Abstract

A series of small-molecule microbicides has been developed for vaginal delivery to prevent heterosexual HIV transmission, but results from human clinical trials have been disappointing. Protein-based microbicides, such as HIV-specific monoclonal antibodies, have been considered as an alternative approach. Despite their promising safety profile and efficacy, the major drawback of such molecules is the economy of large-scale production in mammalian cells, the current system of choice. Here, we show that an alternative biomanufacturing platform is now available for one of the most promising anti-HIV antibodies (2G12). Our data show that the HIV-neutralization capability of the antibody is equal to or superior to that of the same antibody produced in CHO cells. We conclude that this protein production system may provide a means to achieve microbicide ingredient manufacture at costs that would allow product introduction and manufacture in the developing world.

Footnotes

^††To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: christou{at}pvcf.udl.cat
Author contributions: J.M., E.S., and P.C. designed research; K.R., T.R., M.S., J.S., D.P., G.S., and T.C. performed research; K.R., M.S., J.S., D.P., N.L., F.A., J.M., E.S., T.C., and P.C. analyzed data; and K.R. and P.C. wrote the paper.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0708841104/DC1.