Final Report Summary - IGYPURTECH (IgY Technology: A Purification Platform using Ionic-Liquid-Based Aqueous Biphasic Systems)
Biopharmaceuticals, including antibodies, are reaching a priority place in the market for medical applications, such as in vaccination, and in the treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that, according to the World Health Organization, lead to the death of 38 million people each year. These NCDs include cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory and neurological diseases. For these diseases, antibodies are a promising therapeutic option; however, they are still amongst the most costly therapeutic products available in the market. Among these, large attention has been given to monoclonal antibodies obtained by recombinant technology and antibodies obtained from mammals’ serum. Less than 2% of the total polyclonal antibodies produced worldwide are IgY. This lower production yield is mostly a consequence of the difficulties in isolating antibodies from the egg yolk complex matrix. Accordingly, the major goal of this project consisted on the use of aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) for the purification of egg yolk antibodies, namely immunoglobulin Y (IgY), as alternative biopharmaceuticals. Within the framework of the ERC Starting Grant IgYPurTech, two cost-effective technologies which lead to high-quality/high-purity IgY have been developed. It is expected that their large-scale application will allow the widespread use of low-cost and alternative IgY biopharmaceuticals to fight chronic diseases characteristic of an ageing society.