Everest Biotech offers $100,000 antibody grant
Everest Biotech has launched an Antibody Creation Grant scheme
Everest Biotech, a manufacturer of high quality novel antibodies for the international research market, has launched an Antibody Creation Grant scheme. Worth up to US$100,000, the funding is on offer to research labs around the world before the deadline of 31 July 2010.
Everest Biotech has manufactured more than 2000 affinity purified polyclonal antibodies against novel targets for its own catalogue. The grants are available to those labs using between 20 and 100 novel antibodies to advance research.
To apply for the grant, applicants need to select 5–50 target proteins for which there is a need for new antibodies and that it can characterise.
Everest Biotech’s scientific panel will judge entries and then once the grant is awarded, Everest Biotech’s team will work with the selected companies to pick two peptide antigens for each target protein, synthesise them and then immunise goats. Companies will receive 2mg of affinity-purified goat polyclonal antibody against each peptide at no cost. Everest Biotech will commercialise the remainder of the batch.
Affinity-purified anti-peptide polyclonal antibodies come closest to monoclonal antibodies, yet have higher affinity and are better suited for a wide range of applications. Goats produce larger batches than rabbits and, therefore, their antibodies are preferred over other polyclonal antibodies for bulk applications where monoclonal antibodies fail.
‘We’re very excited to offer this grant to the international biomedical research community. The aim of our Antibody Creation Grant is to provide financial support to researchers needing novel antibodies and demonstrates Everest Biotech’s commitment to research. A new set of good reagents, widely available, has the potential to transform a research field – I have seen it many times,’ said professor Neil Barclay from the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford and chairman of Everest Biotech.
The winning grant will be chosen in August 2010.
