Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Lack of immunogenicity of Copaxone

>In general, smaller is better when it comes to immunogenicity, and the constituent peptides in Copaxone are very much smaller than ifn-beta (5-11 kD vs 23 kD).<

According to Millipore’s website, 8-10 kD is considered a minimum for eliciting a strong immune response; most of the constituent polypeptides in Copaxone are smaller than this.

http://www.millipore.com/immunodetection/id3/antibodiestutorial

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Characteristics of a Good Antigen Include:

• Areas of structural stability and chemical complexity within the molecule.
• Significant stretches lacking extensive repeating units.
• A minimal molecular weight of 8,000–10,000 Daltons, although haptens with molecular weights as low as 200 Da have been used in the presence of a carrier protein.
• The ability to be processed by the immune system.
• Immunogenic regions which are accessible to the antibody-forming mechanism.
• Structural elements that are sufficiently different from the host.
• For peptide antigens, regions containing at least 30% of immunogenic amino acids: K, R, E, D, Q, N.
• For peptide antigens, significant hydrophilic or charged residues.
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