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A number of health problems, including certain autoimmune diseases and cancer, have been treated with therapeutic antibodies. At this stage, conventionally available antibody therapies involve direct injections into the blood, an invasive method that can potentially include systemic side effects. However, this could change in the near future, thanks to a new technology to develop edible antibodies.
Until now, oral ingestion of therapeutic antibodies was not possible because of the damage caused by digestion. The newly developed antibody format allows treatments to survive the digestive process, making it possible to treat bowel diseases through local administration rather than injections.
The manufacturing process used to produce these edible antibodies uses yeast cells or soybeans and an existing food processing technology. According to an announcement detailing the technology, the manufacturing process is as simple as that of manufacturing any other food product.
The treatment is in the form of a powder containing antibodies that the patient, human or animal, consumes. It is not necessary to put the powder in capsules; in fact, it can be mixed directly with food. The treatment was tested on piglets, generally susceptible to diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli. Antibiotics are the typical treatment for this problem, but piglets were apparently protected from infection when they received edible antibodies.
The powder, however, can not be limited to exclusively veterinary use. Pigs and humans have similar digestive systems, indicating that edible antibodies could be a future treatment for a number of intestinal disorders, as well as a preventative method of infection control and possibly , reduction of intestinal disease outbreaks in vulnerable populations.
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