Patrys antibody produced in plants

The IgM antibody PAT-SM6, developed by biotechnology company Patrys, has been produced through a plant-based manufacturing system. The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A research collaboration between Patrys and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences focused on developing an alternative production system for the manufacture of IgM antibodies which might reduce production costs while maintaining the quality and functionality of the antibody products. The researchers explained, “Although the expression of IgM antibodies in mammalian cell culture is established, this approach remains costly and alternative methods have not been developed yet.”

Plants have a record for the production of therapeutically relevant recombinant proteins, the researchers said, but it was unknown whether they are able to express proteins like IgM antibodies. The study found that relatively high quantities of PAT-SM6 IgM antibody can in fact be made in an easy-to-grow plant manufacturing system, and that functionality of antibodies very often depends on the attached sugars. By modulating the properties of the plants, a process called in planta glycoengineering, the plant expression system could produce fully functional antibodies that are similar to the antibodies generated by the human body.

“The in planta generation of one of the most complex human proteins opens new pathways toward the production of difficult-to-express proteins for pharmaceutical applications,” the researchers concluded. “Moreover, the generation of IgMs with a controlled glycosylation pattern allows the study of the so far unknown contribution of sugar moieties to the function of IgMs.”