Lorenz Aglas

Abstract

“BM4SIT – An innovative causal therapy for allergy: safe and rapid induction of an anti-inflammatory immune response using a mutant hypoallergen and vitamin D3” is an EU-project to provide a new option for the treatment of birch pollen allergy, which has increased drastically over the last decades. BM4SIT is an acronym for “Bet v 1 Mutant for [4] Specific Immuno Therapy”. The concept of BM4SIT is to replace the bioactive Bet v 1, which is the major birch pollen allergen, with its recombinant hypo-allergenic, called BM4, and to implement a new adjuvant to a support rapid induction of an anti-inflammatory immune response. This innovative concept aims to make subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) more attractive for birch pollen allergic patients by improving the efficacy and safety, and at the same time by decreasing the amounts of injections and of side-effects.
In course of the project, I will be involved in the development and maintenance of the project’s website (www.BM4SIT.eu). As far as the quality control of the drug product is concerned, another aim of my study is to develop methods for the batch-to-batch analysis of BM4 as raw substance and in its formulated form. Therefore, a potency assay has to be developed, which will be accomplished in an ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay)-based format. Moreover, I am performing physicochemical characterizations of the BM4 molecule.