Register for Postdocs & Researchers- Octapharma AB - Internship project VT23
This project is open to postdoctoral and early career researchers (PhD degree holders) with a fixed term employment at KI, or on a KI stipend, before and during the internship.
OCTAPHARMA AB
Target group
Postdocs and researchers (3 months)
About the organization
Octapharma also has one recombinant human product on the market (factor VIII). The therapeutic aeras that we target includes haematology, immunotherapy and critical care.
The project
Each year more than 670.000 patients in Europe are infected with antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens. 33.000 of these patients do not respond to clinical treatments and do not survive. In December 2019 our collaborators at Lund University published an article in Nature Microbiology showing that an isoform of antithrombin (bAT), a human blood-borne inhibitor of the coagulation system, has bactericidal activity. It was shown that bAT dampens inflammatory reactions and leads to improved survival in mice infected with an otherwise lethal dose of Escherichia coli bacteria. To test whether bAT is a target for the development of novel antibacterial therapies a consortium with researchers from Lund University, Karolinska University hospital and Octapharma AB has been formed. This team will assess whether bAT can serve as drug target by employing different preclinical and clinical approaches. To this end, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models are planned to be established to study the ability of bAT to clear an infection and reverse pathological immune reactions in response to infection with antibiotic resistant pathogens. The concept presented in this application describes an approach for the development of novel antimicrobial therapies that can be employed to treat patients suffering from infectious caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The aim of the current three months internship project is to develop an isoelectric focusing analytical assay to characterize purified protein fractions (different isoforms of antithrombin, including bAT etc.) preparations. . Analytical product characterization is an important part in a pre-clinical work to be able to investigate the suitability of the product to be a drug candidate. The purified bAT preparation will be used in experimental models which in turn will form the decision basis on if the project is fit for going into a clinical trial.
The candidate
The successful candidate ideally has a background in protein chemistry and is highly skilled in protein chemistry lab work and enjoys analytical assay development, both from a theoretical and a practical side. Ability to collaborate efficient and smoothly with different types of functions in a prestigeless manner is a prerequisite.
Contact information
Name: Rasmus Gustafsson, PhD
Email: Rasmus.Gustafsson@octapharma.com Telephone: 076-000 99 22
Company website: Octapharma.se
Last date of application has expired.