Llamas Take On New Burden In Laboratory

September 10, 2009

By Jonathan Matsey

Llamas have served as beasts of burden for centuries in South America, and their coats are great for garments and rugs. Now these camelids may be well-suited for the laboratory, too.

ArGen-X BV, a year-old Dutch biotech start-up, is looking to llamas as a source for antibodies, hoping to sidestep many of the problems associated with transgenic mice.

“This is an animal far away from man,” said arGen-X Chief Executive Tim Van Hauwermeiren. “But there are only a few amino acids that differ from the human antibody.”

Traditional antibodies for medicine are largely derived from mice. But Van Hauwermeiren said those antibodies differ far more from those found in humans. Further, lab mice tend to be inbred, providing little genetic diversity, and have already been exposed to a variety of human diseases.

Camelids, the family of animals including camels, alpacas and llamas, on the other hand, rarely contract the same diseases as humans, so their immune systems produce large amounts of antibodies when exposed. When injected with human disease targets, Van Hauwermeiren said the llama’s cells produce a fierce reaction and an outpouring of antibodies that need little tweaking for human use.

Llamas also present a clean patent slate, said Christina Takke, principal at arGen-X investor Forbion Capital Partners, which just led the first tranche of a $9.5 million Series A funding round for arGen-X. “If you look at transgenic mice, there is not a lot that’s out there that’s a new technology,” she said, adding that most mice used are licensed from a handful of big biotech companies. But since camelids are largely untapped, Van Hauwermeiren said the company has been able to file for 30 broad patents.

Rotterdam-based arGen-X is developing a platform to create antibodies for human therapeutics that can treat cancers and autoimmune diseases. Van Hauwermeiren said that he expects the company to license the platform out or work in close collaboration with a handful of big biotech companies, who would provide the funding to move the antibody therapies through clinical trials.
ArGen-X is not the only company looking at llamas for novel applications. In late 2006, scientists from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory published data that llama antibodies could be used as biosensors for homeland security use.

Lab mice, meanwhile, may soon be on the way out. Irish scientists have just discovered that certain insects like moths and caterpillars could be substituted in the testing of drugs, saving pharmaceutical companies time and money, Reuters reports. According to that story, 85% of all mammals used in experiments are rodents, most of them mice.