Background
Snakebite envenoming occurs when a venomous snake bites and injects venom into a victim. It is thought several million people are bitten by venomous snakes each year. The consequences of a bite can be devastating, with estimates of upwards of 130,000 people dying and a further 400,000 permanently disabled annually due to the pathological effects of snake venom. It is overwhelmingly the poorest in society that suffer the greatest snakebite burden, particularly those residing in the impoverished, rural communities of the tropics. Antivenoms have been the mainstay of envenoming treatment for over a century and are the only treatment for snakebite with proven clinical efficacy. However, antivenom is associated with numerous deficiencies; poor dose-efficacy, high incidence of adverse reactions to the large dose of animal-derived antibodies delivered intravenously, and efficacy typically restricted to the snake venom(s) used in immunisation. Monoclonal antibodies are expected to form next-generation recombinant antivenoms which will overcome the issues associated with current antivenoms.
Goal
Our long-term goal is to develop safer, fully recombinant antivenoms that can be produced without animal immunisation and tailored to different venom profiles
Our work in this area
Our research takes a modern, fully laboratory-based approach using antibody display technologies to discover antibodies that neutralise venom toxins. We use both phage display and yeast display systems—powerful tools that link each antibody’s genetic code to its ability to recognise a toxin. In phage display, bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) carry antibody fragments on their surface, allowing billions of variants to be screened quickly for those that bind to specific venom proteins. In yeast display, antibodies are displayed on the surface of yeast cells, which can then be analysed and sorted using flow cytometry to find the strongest and most specific binders.
We can then efficiently identify, optimise, and humanise monoclonal antibodies that target key venom components. These engineered antibodies have the potential to form the basis of safer, more effective, and reproducible next-generation antivenoms.
Collaborations
We collaborate with academic, clinical, and industry partners in the UK and internationally to identify, characterise, and engineer antibodies with therapeutic potential. We are always happy to discuss new collaboration opportunities.
Publications
For our latest publications on antivenom antibody discovery and related work, please see our Publications page