Applied Immune Sciences Inc. plans to take its cell-sortingtechnology, which it is already applying to potentialtreatments for AIDS and cancer, down on the farm.

Under a collaborative agreement with InnoVet Inc. of WestPalm Beach, Fla., Applied Immune's MicroCellector device is tobe harnessed to the task of sorting out sperm used in artificialinsemination of cattle and pigs. A dairy farmer, for example,could use the system to cull sperm that would produce desiredmilking cows from sperm that would produce unwanted bulls.

"It's a bit of a departure from our normal line of business,"said Thomas B. Okarma, president and chief executive officerof Applied Immune (AIS) of Menlo Park, Calif., which isdeveloping human cell therapies to treat AIDS and cancer. "Thisagreement just demonstrates once again that science oftenleads researchers down new and unexpected paths."

Both companies are to share equally the revenues from thefarm service business that InnoVet is to set up and manage.InnoVet, which develops drug-delivery systems and otheranimal and human health care products, puts the annualworldwide market for the product at $200 million.

Such sales could be a boon for AIS, which now generates only asmall amount of research product sales. In one application ofits cell therapy programs now in clinical trials, AIS's cell-selection system is used to isolate rare stem cells from theblood of cancer patients undergoing autologous bone marrowtransplants.

InnoVet contacted AIS in early summer to suggest thelivestock application, said Jerry Ford, AIS's director of publicrelations. "Our ability to do that with stem cells suggested wecould do that with sperm."

AIS's proprietary technology covers a method for permanentlybonding monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) or proteins to plastic.MicroCellector is a laboratory research version of a family ofplastic devices that are lined with MAbs that bind withspecific cells or antigens.

The high mobility of sperm presented an added challenge forresearchers accustomed to dealing with blood cells, Ford said.Researchers equipped the MicroCellector with a centrifuge,which pushes the sperm up against the MAbs mounted on thedevice's inside wall.

The companies are now gathering data to demonstrateMicroCellector's effectiveness for gender-selection of sperm,Ford said. The companies aim to market the service within ayear.

-- Ray Potter Senior Editor

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.