Biotechnology in Lausanne: The Rh D project

Hemolytic disease of the newborn is an often fatal condition of some newbor n babies due to the immunogenicity of their Rh D positive erythrocytes in t he Rh D negative mother. This condition can be prevented by injecting anti- Rh D antibodies. The current source of these antibodies is blood from immun ized human donors. In order to avoid problems with limited supply and donor safety, the Rh D project was set up to develop recombinant monoclonal anti -Rh D antibodies as a possible replacement. In a multidisciplinary collabor ation between the Zentrallaboratorium Blutspendedienst (ZLB) of the Swiss R ed Cross, the Center of Biotechnology of the University and the EPFL (CBUE) , and the Institute of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (EPFL), co-fund ed by the Swiss National Science Foundation and ZLB, a candidate monoclonal anti-Rh D antibody has been selected, expressed in CHO cells, and a manufa cturing process for large-scale production has been developed.