Team:ACIBADEM ISTANBUL/Human Practices

Human_Practise

Lives Impacted

Every year an estimated two million people are bitten by venomous snakes.
Of those, over 100,000 people die.
For those whom survive, over 400,000 of them are left with a permanent disability.
Whilst LTNF 2.0 cannot decrease the number of annual snake bites, we are hoping to decrease the current morbidity/mortality status by offering a high efficacy, readily available and safe anti-venom for rapid use in snake endemic regions of the world.

Cost

Average price of a single dose of anti-venom is $1,500 - $2,000.
An average of 20-25 doses of anti-venom are required to treat a single snake bite.
As a result, the average price of treatment a single snake bite costs over $30,000 in pharmaceutical costs alone.
The estimated cost of producing industry-scale LTNF 2.0 via fermentation is $5-6 per gram.
The target market mainly consists of developing countries in the South Asia and Africa region, that not only have the highest relative incidence of snake bites, but also limited healthcare budgets.
Providing a cost-effective solution to the world’s anti-venom problem allows for developing countries to be able to afford and meet their anti-venom needs.
This ultimately leads to countries being able to reserve funds for other major healthcare problems while also increasing the success rate for anti-venom treatment.

Safety

Over 43% of patients injected with animal produced anti-venom express Severe Type I Hypersensitivity reactions due to cross-reaction.
Severe Type I Hypersensitivity reactions are life threatening and require additional medical treatment with Epinephrine and Corticosteroids.
LTNF 2.0 can be manufactured using the yeast strain, Pichia pastoris. No animal based bio-products are used, eliminating the risk of immunoreactions.

Animal Practice

LTNF 2.0 rewrites the fundamental rules of anti-venom development. With LTNF 2.0, there is no longer a need to utilize animal hosts to synthesize anti-venom.
With our approach, anti-venom can literally be produced in a fermenter in a matter of hours using yeast!

Easy to Manufacture

Preparation of traditional anti-venom takes about 11-12 weeks.
LTNF 2.0 can be synthesized and purified in a matter of hours.
Patent can be leased to countries, allowing them to manufacture their own LTNF 2.0 for therapeutic and research purposes.

Wide Acting Potential

Traditional anti-venom treatment is built on the basis of an antibody (anti-venom) neutralizing an antigen (venom). We call this mechanism, “Lock and Key.”
LTNF 2.0 takes a biochemical approach, inhibiting the major enzymes that make up the venom.
Therefore, LTNF 2.0 can theoretically inhibit other anti-venoms that utilize similar enzymes for the same hemotoxic effect.

Real World Products

Auto-Injector

ACIBADEM_ISTANBUL x Ypsomed Collaboration
Self-Administration of LTNF 2.0 for empiric therapy will be very easy thanks to our partnership with Ypsomed, which has offered us early access to their LyoTwist Trio dual-chambered auto-injector.
After getting bit by the snake, a simple two-step process allows for the administration of LTNF 2.0:

1) Mix and Prime the Lyophilized LTNF 2.0 with sterile saline.
2) Inject the mixture near site of injury.

The device uses an auto-inject mechanism that makes self-administration very easy.
The device is compact in size, which allows it to be carried easily by anyone, anywhere.

Calmette Loops

The modifications made to develop LTNF 2.0 has provided LTNF with greater stability and lower hemotoxicity, we can consider using it for prophylaxis for residents of snake endemic regions.
Given how our industrialization process comprises of utilizing yeast, we could even go far as to offering the LTNF 2.0 in products such as yogurt and cereals, to be consumed before venturing outside that day.

Lyophilized Vial

LTNF 2.0 can be sold to Health centers in the form of lyophilized vials, to be injected into IV drips in either ambulance and hospital conditions.

Disruption of industry

The world’s first anti-venom was made in 1895 by Albert Calmette, using a long and taxing process of abusing animals as antibody generators. To this day, Albert Calmette’s method has not been challenged, which has resulted in:

1) A disinterested pharmaceutical industry - The bitter truth being that, “Money talks” production times are long and expensive, coupled with the fact that the major market happens to be developing countries with limited budgets results in fewer profit margins.
2) Anti-venom scarcity problem – High demand from developing countries and low supply due to the reasons mentioned above.
3) Pricey cost – A single snake bite can cost more than $30,000 to treat.
4) A treatment with a trade-off: A 43% chance to trigger a Severe Type I Hypersensitivity reaction.
5) Low efficacy treatment – There’s only one anti-venom for each venom treatment

With LTNF 2.0, we truly have an opportunity to have an impact by offering a significantly more affordable, safe, effective and dynamic product that we hope will make the future a better tomorrow.