The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has allowed the iBio, Inc's patent application 13/445,492 entitled “Recombinant Carrier Molecule for Expression, Delivery, and Purification of Target Polypeptides.” The fundamental composition of matter and method claims allowed grant important exclusivity over new, modified carrier molecules derived from iBio’s proprietary iBioModulator system and their use with one or more target proteins or antigens.

The new carriers provide new capabilities to create high-performance vaccine candidates for difficult disease targets. The invention was developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer USA Centre for Molecular Biotechnology, iBio’s research collaborator.

The iBioModulator platform has been shown to significantly modify the immune response to a vaccine in two important ways. It increases the strength of the initial immune response to a vaccine antigen (as measured by antibody titer). It also extends the duration of the immune response, thus lowering vaccine antigen requirements or enabling fewer doses to establish prolonged immunity. Generating a stronger immune response and longer-term protection without booster inoculations adds significant value to a vaccine by reducing the overall costs and logistical difficulties of its use while effectively reaching a higher proportion of the target population.

iBio uses the iBioModulator platform, including the technology covered by this new patent, for the biopharmaceutical products it develops with its proprietary iBioLaunch plant-based protein expression system. iBio also offers the benefits of the iBioModulator platform through licenses to product developers who use the iBioLaunch system or other protein expression systems.

iBio develops and offers product applications of its iBioLaunch and iBioModulator platforms, providing collaborators full support for turn-key implementation of its technology for both proprietary and biosimilar products.