Chiron Acquires Prion Solutions

In a move that complements its own research efforts, Chiron Corp. (Emeryville, CA, USA) has acquired Prion Solutions, Inc. (La Jolla, CA, USA). Financial details were not disclosed.

Prion Solutions is focused on research into variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and other prion-related diseases. The company holds exclusive rights from Scripps Institute to an antibody that recognizes the disease-specific form of the cellular prion protein. This technology from Prion Solutions complements Chiron's existing research on prions, which has been successful in identifying several classes of reagents that bind specifically to the disease-related form of prions and are useful for development of a blood-screening assay.

Cases of vCJD recorded in Europe have been linked to eating or contact with cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease. The disease is a slow, progressive disease of the central nervous system, believed to be caused by an infectious prion, a protein particle. Two cases have been reported where blood from a donor who was later identified to have vCJD was transfused to a patient who later developed vCJD, suggesting the possibility that vCJD can be transmitted through transfusion.

Chiron blood testing is dedicated to preventing the spread of infectious diseases through the development of novel blood-screening tools that protect the world blood supply. These include the company's Procleix assay and systems that use nucleic acid testing (NAT) technology to detect RNA and DNA in donated blood, plasma, organs, and tissue during the very early stages of infection, when infectious agents are present but cannot be detected by immunodiagnostic screening technologies.

"The technology developed by Prion Solutions complements our program and will advance the development of a highly sensitive and specific test to screen blood donations for cVJD, which is believed to be transmissible through blood,” explained Jack Goldstein, president, Chiron Blood Testing.




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