The Ohio State University Corporate Engagement Office

Back to All Technologies

Therapeutic uses of the scavenging protein cocktail to treat plasma protein imbalances or depletion

Clinical Area
Life & Health Sciences
Hematology, Blood & Lymphatic
Therapeutics
Peptides/Proteins
College
College of Engineering (COE)
Researchers
Susin Pires, Ivan
Palmer, Andre
Licensing Manager
Schworer, Adam
614-247-9672
schworer.2@osu.edu

T2020-135 Uncontrolled hemolysis (i.e., destruction of red blood cells) is characterized by the increase of circulating toxic cell-free hemoglobin, heme and iron in the bloodstream. In vivo, the body’s natural supply of plasma scavenger proteins acts to neutralize these toxic species. However, these scavenger proteins such as haptoglobin, hemopexin and transferrin, which detoxify hemoglobin, heme and iron, respectively, are depleted in various clinical conditions such as hemorrhagic shock, burns, surgery, organ transplantation, sepsis and trauma.

Dr. Andre Palmer’s lab at The Ohio State University has developed a novel therapeutic protein mixture, which can be used to treat plasma protein imbalances or depletion caused by the adverse events described above. The properties of this protein mixture are beneficial as they lend themselves to an inexpensive manufacturing process and potential improvements in clinical outcomes.

The Need

Fluid replacement as part of resuscitation efforts in clinical care is a cornerstone of treatment especially in cases with severe trauma. The regular usage of these fluids in hospitals requires the mixture to be easily transported, easily stored and applicable across a wide variety of patients. To date, much of the improvements in this space have been focused on the lyophilization of these fluids which has greatly improved access at point-of-care. However, there are several barriers including the need for crossmatching blood groups, cost-effectiveness and deleterious side-effects. Accordingly, most fluid resuscitation strategies rely on simple crystalloid (salt) solutions which only provide fluid volume without direct treatment of harmful substances released under these conditions.

The Technology

The technology innovates the methods to create a cocktail of proteins to treat hemorrhagic shock, burns, surgery, organ transplantation, sepsis or trauma. The protein cocktail was made utilizing tangential flow filtration (TFF) and consists of a novel mixture of haptoglobin, hemopexin, albumin, transferrin, vitamin-D binding protein and ceruloplasmin. Human serum albumin (HSA) provides plasma expansion properties but additionally has toxin scavenging and antioxidant proteins. Thus, not only can the protein cocktail replace fluid volume, but also contains a mixture of proteins that can mitigate hemolysis-associated toxicities. The biophysical properties of the protein mixture are also desirable in a fluid resuscitation product as it is fully biocompatible and has great viscous properties for these applications. Overall, this scavenging protein cocktail, meets all the clinical needs for the treatment of hemorrhagic shock, burns, surgery, organ transplantation, sepsis or trauma with additional properties that make it superior to what is on the market.

In summary, this cocktail has a multitude of benefits including the ability to be used across all blood groups, scalability of manufacturing and ease of transport. Thus, this technology serves an important gap in the market and is poised to make positive clinical impacts.

Commercial Applications

  • Therapeutics
  • Protein Purification
  • Replacement of blood plasma
  • Treatment of hemorrhagic shock, burns, surgery, organ transplantation, sepsis or trauma

Benefits/Advantages

  • Inexpensive manufacturing process
  • Improved Therapeutic Outcomes
  • Ease of Storage and Point-of-care Transport

Patents

The PCT Patent Application titled “Methods for Treating Plasma Protein Imbalances or Depletion” was recently filed.

Publications

  • Purification and analysis of a protein cocktail capable of scavenging cell‐free hemoglobin, heme, and iron.