SB Bioscience
Rapid Discovery of Aptamers Using Heterogeneous SELEX

The prevalent infectious diseases caused by mediators, such as insects, are characterized by high mortality and morbidity rates. To effectively control the spread of new infectious diseases, there is a need for highly sensitive diagnostic methods to rapidly detect viral nucleic acids or proteins.

A sensitive, selective detection platform for diagnosing diseases in the early stages of infection is required to prevent disease spread and protect public health. To that end, an advanced aptamer-discovery method accelerates the detection of aptamer reagents with excellent specificities, exceeding those of the best monoclonal antibodies.

Aptamer, a chemical antibody selected through the discovery technique SELEX, can compensate for the shortcomings of an antibody and is composed of ssDNA, ssRNA, and peptides. Due to its lack of in vivo immunity, it attracts attention as a new drug candidate and is used to detect various targets through rapid screening.

Would we have experienced as many deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic if the rapid antigen test kit used was as accurate as the molecular diagnostic tool?

SB Bioscience has the answer.

To facilitate the exact diagnosis of multiple influenza virus types reported each year, SB Bioscience develops user-friendly technology that can be widely applied in various medical fields, including diagnostics and new drugs, while improving the low accuracy of the existing rapid antigen diagnosis kit.

“We can make a sensitive diagnostic kit using our technology -- Aptamer and signal amplification. This technology achieves superior sensitivity compared to conventional technologies,” says Juyoung Kang, CTO at SB Bioscience.

Aptamer discovery technology binds to sites other than those that antibodies bind to. Kang notes that the market for aptamers is estimated to be $7 trillion by 2025.

The immune-diagnosis method is largely divided into rapid antigen diagnosis (LFA), enzyme immune-detection method (ELISA), and ELISA technology implementation. Numerous influenza virus types are identified each year, and the quantitative, sandwich-format enzyme-linked immunosorbent test (ELISA) is widely utilized to facilitate accurate diagnosis. Enzyme-linked secondary antibodies or aptamers are signal amplification or colorimetric analysis detection reagents. Aptamers have similar target affinities and specificities to antibodies, and they are relatively easy to label and can be applied to various methods. Because of this, many recently proposed, quantitative analysis methods have a heterogeneous sandwich format and use an antibody with high specificity for a target and an aptamer that can be easily labeled for signal amplification. Aptamers obtained through the conventional systematic evolution of ligands by the exponential enrichment (SELEX) method have a limitation in the heterogeneous sandwich format assay because they often bind the antibody that acts as the capturing agent.

Today, existing technologies have limitations in sensitivity because the number of chromogenic enzymes and antigens correspond. To that end, the firm focuses on developing aptamer-based diagnostic signal amplification technology using the protein engineering technology owned by SB Bioscience. The developed technology can attach a large amount of chromogenic enzyme to the aptamer, improving sensitivity. This technology achieves superior sensitivity compared to conventional technologies.

In addition to the aforementioned competencies, SB Bioscience intends to develop COVID-19 and influenza diagnostic kits, and conduct a corona prototype performance evaluation. The diagnostic kit’s key features are accuracy, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. Founded in 2020, SB Bioscience aims to become the best biotech company globally for new drugs and diagnostics using aptamers. Leading the future diagnosis market with a platform that can diagnose as accurately at home as in a lab, SB Bioscience is making groundbreaking strides in the field of diagnosis and new drugs.