Aarhus University, Denmark, the University of Tokyo, Japan, and TODAI TLO, Ltd. (CASTI), a technology licensing organisation under the auspices of the University of Tokyo, have entered into an exclusive licence agreement with FUJIFILM Corporation, Japan, to develop a new technology for singling out and selecting antibody fragments based on open sandwich immunoassays.

Research collaboration between Associate Professor Peter Kristensen, Department of Molecular Biology, Aarhus University, Associate Professor Hiroshi Ueda, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, University of Tokyo, and Research Fellow Masayuki Kawakami, FUJIFILM Corporation, has led to the development of patent-pending technology that will potentially enable faster and more efficient production of novel binding molecules capable of specifically recognising the presence and amount of small analytes in complex solutions.

The researchers have developed a method that combines the ability of phage display technology to select antibody fragments capable of specifically recognising other molecules with a screening method enabling rapid identification of antibody fragments that, in addition to specific recognition, can be used in open sandwich immunoassays. The system is particularly well suited for identifying and measuring the number of very small molecules such as pesticides and chemical combinations. Associate Professor Ueda originally developed the immunoassay system known as open sandwich immunoassays. This is linked to Associate Professor Kristensen’s further development of phage display technology. In this way, both researchers have developed a new and efficient system with great potential.

Associate Professor Kristensen and Associate Professor Ueda will collaborate on further research into novel uses of phage display and antibody selection technologies, while FUJIFILM Corporation’s Life Science Laboratories will continue development of this particular technology. The scope of the application area for this technology is extensive, ranging from measuring small amounts of antibodies in the blood to the presence of pesticides in field samples.

For further information, please contact Associate Professor Peter Kristensen, +45 8942 5275, pk@mb.au.dk or Technology Manager Thomas Schmidt, Technology Transfer Office +45 8942 6885, tjs@adm.au.dk, Aarhus University, or Associate Professor Hiroshi Ueda, +81 3 5841 7362, hueda@chembio.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp, University of Tokyo.