AM BIOTECHNOLOGIES, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: SB142-004

AM BIOTECHNOLOGIES, LLC — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Defense.

Amount
$99,975
Agency
Department of Defense · Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Program / Phase
SBIR · Phase I
Topic
SB142-004
Solicitation
2014.2
NAICS
Place of performance
TX
Period
2014-09-24 → 2015-06-30

Description

AM Biotech proposes to develop X-Aptamer-functionalized NanoSponges (XANS) as a multi-valent snakebite antidote using synthetic, ambient-stable affinity molecules (X-Aptamers) coupled to nanoporous silica microparticles (nanosponges). XANS would be ambient-stable, universal, available in remote locations, and would not cause anaphylactic reactions. The antidote would be injected in the field at the site of a suspected envenomation enabling the X-Aptamers attached to the vast surface area of the nanosponges to bind with high affinity to many, if not all, of the toxins present in venom. Once injected, the XANS would rapidly absorb a large quantity of the toxins present and sequester them. After several hours, the XANS would either be excreted with the sequestered toxins or collect in the liver (primarily) and degrade slowly over weeks, allowing the victim?s immune system and serum proteases to effectively deal with the toxins without significant side effects.