Bacteria as a vehicle for drug delivery

• Author: Catherine Jewell
• Position: Communications Division, WIPO
• Pages: 7-10

p. 7WIPO | MAGAZINE

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By Catherine Jewell,

Communications Division ,

WIPO

ActoGeniX, a small Belg ian biotech company, is breaking new ground in developing

a new class of drugs to treat gastrointestina l, immunological and metabolic diseas es

(such as Type 1 diabetes) which afict million s. Established in 2006 as a s pin-off

from research carrie d out at the University of Ghe nt and the Flanders Institute of

Biotechnology (VIB), ActoGeniX’s technology, known as Actobiotics™, promises to

revolutionize treatment of these chron ic conditions. Emil Pot, General C ounsel at

ActoGeniX, explains how the tech nology works and why intellec tual property (IP) is

so important for the growth of the company’s business.

ACTOBIOTICS™: A PROMISE OF MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT

ActoGeniX’s core technology, TopAct™, was developed by scientists at the Univer sity

of Ghent in 1994 and was rst patented in 1996. TopAct™ transforms the non-patho-

genic food bacterium Lactoccocus lactus into a deliver y vehicle for a therapeuti c

protein which can induce heal ing in the body. Using sophisticated genetic engineering

techniques, a gene that is ess ential to the survival of the bacterium outside the body

is removed and replaced with on e that contains the code (or recipe) for se creting

the desired therapeu tic protein. In this way a so-called ActoBiotic™ is produced.

“We basically engine er food-grade bacteria whi ch have been used for millenn ia in

cheese-making a nd encode it with a therap eutic protein. Once a patient swallows

it, it starts producing the the rapeutic protein of interest,” Mr. Pot explains. “It has got

very broad applicatio n and can be used, in principle, for any DNA-based pol ypeptide

– antigens, allergens, cy tokines and antibodies.”

ADVANTAGES OF THE TECHNOLOGY

This pioneering tech nology offers exciting possibilities for tre ating a wide range of dis-

eases. ActoBiotics™ can be taken orally and are s afer and more effective than drugs

administered by injection. “Th e big advantage is that becaus e of its oral application,

it locally targets spec ic diseased areas. For exam ple, if you have mouth ulcers re-

sulting from radiotherapy, you can apply the med ication directly to the inamed area

instead of applying it systemica lly, and thereby avoid a lot of side effects. It is ver y

safe,” Mr. Pot explains.

“Our manufacturing approach differs from other biologics companies in that whereas

they discard the bacteria once the th erapeutic proteins are isolated, we throw away

the proteins and keep the enginee red bacterial cells. These then act as vehicles that

can carry a who le range of therapies to a speci c treatment area.”

ActoBiotics™ are very cheap to produce, compared to other b iologics which can

involve complex and costly proce sses. “We simply ferme nt, harvest and formulate

the bacteria either as a caps ule for intestinal deliver y or as a mouth rinse for bucca l

applications,” Mr. Pot notes.

BACTERIA

as a vehicle

for drug delivery

ActoGeni X’s core technology, TopAct™, w as

developed by scient ists at the Univers ity

of Ghent in 1994 and wa s rst patented

in 1996. TopAct™ tra nsforms the non-

pathogenic food b acterium Lactoccocus

lactus into a delivery ve hicle for a therapeutic

protein, know n as an ActoBiotic ™ which

can induce hea ling in the bod y.

Photo: Daniel Nun ez, INRA, Paris, Fra nce