Other

Gillian E Francis

Catherine R O'Riordan

Alan E Smith

Christina Delgado

Vincent Parkes

Viruses are modified by coupling a polymer such as polyethylene glycol to obtain polymer-modified viruses that can exhibit reduced antigenicity while retaining infectivity, and which may exhibit increased circulation time in vivo. The polymer may be directly covalently attached or indirectly covalently attached via an intermediate coupling moiety to the virus. The polymer may also be indirectly noncovalently attached to the virus via a ligand such as an antibody having specificity for a viral surface component. To prepare the polymer-modified virus, the polymer is activated and coupled to the virus. A preferred activated polymer is tresyl-monomethoxypolyethylene glycol having an average molecular weight of about 5000 daltons. The polymer-modified viruses have utility for therapeutic and diagnostic in vivo applications, and may be used to introduce a transgene into a target cell by infection, or be administered to a subject having a tumor where the polymer-modified virus localizes to the tumor.

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Reading, United Kingdom

Gillian E Francis