The Cellestis Story. Part Three.

Continued from The Cellestis Story. Part Two.


Covering the technical aspects of QuantiFERON has dragged on a bit (but worth the time, I think). In this third (and short) chapter of the story I am going to wrap up this section so that I can move on to other parts of the story that describe the investment imperative.


We've had a pretty good look at Tuberculosis. We've looked at how QuantiFERON uses an aspect of the body's own immune system (Interferon-Gamma release) to diagnose TB and come to grips with the advantages of QFT over the previously used TB diagnostics. 


Now, I'm betting that, having thought about it, you are now thinking "well, that is really cool - we take some blood, add it to some TB antigens* and look for Interferon-gamma as an indication of TB infection. So ... what if we used different antigens? Could we diagnose other infections?"


You bet your booty you can!


Other Diagnostic Uses of QuantiFERON.


In theory, the QuantiFERON method could be used to diagnose any infection  that generates an immune response. All (!) it takes is to identify and produce the appropriate specific antigens.


The list of potential candidates is huge and includes many cancers, auto-immune diseases, inflammatory diseases etc etc. 


Of course, in the end, a number of factors will determine which diagnostics will be developed for commercial release. There is little point in releasing a new diagnostic for an infection that already has an effective diagnostic. Likewise, it is unlikely that Cellestis would produce a diagnostic that has a small demand. 


Cellestis are working on potential new diagnostics in their laboratory however, their identity is shrouded in secrecy. 


Currently, in addition to QFT-TB, Cellestis have commercially released two other products using the QFT technology.


QuantiFERON-CMI


This is basically a QuantiFERON diagnostic kit with no disease specific antigens included. It is sold to other Scientists and Researchers who wish to use the QFT method to experiment with other uses for the technology. Whilst, obviously, it is not ever going to generate any worthwhile profits for Cellestis directly, it is still very important. Through this product Cellestis are encouraging wide ranging research into the uses of the technology. This provides two clear benefits back to Cellestis. The first is that it helps in generating understanding, awareness and acceptance of the QFT technology in scientific and medical communities. Secondly, the QFT technology is very tightly protected by patents throughout the world. Any scientific research that results in a commercial product will generate profits back to Cellestis.


QuantiFERON-CMV


This is quite an interesting diagnostic that actually begins to open up the view that the QFT Technology has a huge number of potential applications.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpes virus that infects between 50% and 85% of the population. Similarly to TB, it remains in a latent form in the body and causes no problems for people under normal circumstances. Again, the competent immune system deals with CMV quite effectively.


However, it poses special problems for transplant patients. If a donor recipient that does not have the T-cells to fight CMV receives an organ from a donor with CMV, the recipient is at huge risk of developing full blown CMV which, at worst, can result in death. Furthermore, the anti-rejection drugs administered after transplant can weaken the immune system enough for CMV to become active.


As opposed to QFT-TB, QFT-CMV is not used to determine if somebody has CMV - rather it is used to determine if somebody has the T-cells to fight CMV. It is important that this status be established before transplant and monitored during post operation recovery. This is the role of QFT-CMV. 


There are currently about 70,000 solid organ transplants performed in the world each year - each of these transplants would require multiple uses of QFT-CMV. Clearly, CMV is not going to generate the same income as QFT-TB (even though it sells at a price of multiples of QFT-TB). However, over time (particularly as the number of transplants increase) it will generate significant income.


Outside the Square.


A final note on uses of the QFT technology. As the QFT-CMV demonstrates, the QFT technology has uses other than simply disease diagnosis. Anywhere that it is of value to measure the immune system, QFT has a potential use. A very interesting use is that of monitoring the effectiveness of vaccines. Remembering that a vaccine works by educating the immune system in how to fight a future infection, QFT can be used to monitor whether the vaccine given to a person has, in fact, worked to prime the immune system. (I won't drag you through the science of this but it's pretty obvious when you consider the description of the operation of the immune system back in Part Two.)


The Future


QFT-TB is obviously the Company maker. However, we can anticipate a long and full pipeline of other products in the future that are equally as important as QFT-TB. The QFT technology being used is patent protected into the 2020's and future innovations and products will, no doubt, be well protected.


Next: Something different.






*Antigens. You may have noticed that I have changed from using the term Proteins to now using the term Antigens. For our purposes the two are basically the same thing. Generally, Cellestis use the term Antigens, so I will from here on. Besides, it sounds cooler.