ERAS is developing target-specific antibody fragments (ScFv) via the in vitro selection method ribosome display. Antibody fragments can bind their target with high affinity and can be adapted as a recognition element to various systems (ELISA, LFA etc.) instead of antibodies. Ribosome display is a powerful engineering research tool for the high-throughput selection of peptides or proteins, which makes possible the generation of high-performance binders against nearly any antigen of interest. Ribosome display is a cell-free vital tool for efficient and low-cost production of antibodies for diagnostics due to its advantageous ability to screen large libraries and generate binders of high affinity.
Recombinant antibody fragments are successful alternatives to full-length monoclonal antibodies since they are smaller, retaining the targeting specificity of the whole mAbs, but can be produced more economically, and are easily amenable to genetic manipulation in E. coli expression systems. Within the past two decades, antibody fragments have gradually become essential tools in the fields of biological sciences, agriculture, and medicine for basic research, disease diagnostics, and therapy.
