O U R   C O M M I T T M E N T

animal welfare

microorganisms instead of mammals

“We are thrilled to have developed a technology that bypasses the use of numerous experimental animals in discovery and development, as well as the consecutive production of antibodies in animal farms. Animal welfare is close to our hearts” says Prof. Dirk Görlich, Director and head of the Department of Cellular Logistics at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. 

Tino Pleiner, a former PhD student in Prof. Görlich’s lab and collaborator of VicuTec at the Institute adds: "We can outsource the nanobody production completely – to microorganisms instead of mammals. This technology has the potential to drastically reduce the number of animals used for antibody production and to make a major contribution to animal welfare in research.”

“As with conventional antibody production, an alpaca is first immunized with a purified antigen. But here, the immunization can be mild, because there is no need to force the animal to make large amounts of antibodies. Getting a few good blueprints is enough,“ Görlich explains.

VicuTec is cooperating with the Animal Facility at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. As Ulrike Teichmann, head of that Facility, points out, the immunization applied here to the alpaca is comparable to a human vaccination and harmless to the animal. In fact, the procedure causes the animals so little stress that one animal can provide material for several nanobody projects while enjoying a high quality and long expectancy of life. “These are particularly important aspects of animal welfare,” adds Sarah Kimmina, the responsible Animal Welfare Officer.

Our herd of 21 alpacas lives on 15.655 qm year-round pasture, which has modern stables. They are looked after by two full-time vets and two certified animal carers around the clock.

The project was granted the Animal Welfare Prize of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, for more information, please click here