Unilever Patent Holdings B.v.

Unipath Limited

Mark J Berry

Philip Porter

Robert Andrew Badley

Paul James Davis

Martine Elisa Verhoeyen

Trevor A Wattam

Trevor Wattam

Ronald F De Winter

Specific binding assays

An antibody specific for a target analyte is purified by affinity chromatography on a substrate bearing a low-affinity analogue of the target analyte. The antibody is displaced from the substrate by contact with a second analogue of intermediate affinity, which remains complexed with the antibody. This complex can be used in a conventional assay for the target analyte, which displaces the intermediate-affinity analogue. The complexed antibody is rendered more storage-stable because the second analogue protects the antibody binding reagion.

Recovery of and uses of specific binding agents

Improved affinity purification media are provided by the use of small specific binding agents, especially Fv antibody fragments or single domain antibody fragments, immobilised on porous carriers having pore sizes in the range 30-1000 angstroms, preferably 30-300 angstroms. Silica is a preferred carrier. The small fragments are able to penetrate the pores and maximise the effective surface area of the carrier, and the microporous silica is sufficiently robust to be used at high pressure, so enabling the speed and/or throughput of a purification procedure to be increased.

Immunoadsorbent reagents

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Northampton, United Kingdom

Mark J Berry