Two Novel, Disruptive Technologies

Panosome has developed two unique technologies by harnessing the coat of the African trypanosome. This highly unusual surface is densely carpeted by ~10 million copies of a single protein, the Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG), and is unique in the microbial world.

Our foundational technology, the VAST (VSG-immunogen Array by Sortase Tagging) is a system built on more than a decade of research into exploiting this coat for immunotherapeutic purposes. The science behind the platform has been presented in numerous peer reviewed publications (e.g., Journal of Immunological Methods 2010, Nature Communications 2017, Cell Reports 2023). Early stage work was funded by a prestigious NIH Transformative Research Award. Currently the platform is supported by an NIH SBIR award to sublicensee Hepione Therapeutics Inc. (for applications in anti-opioid treatments) as well an a European Research Council Proof of Concept award.

The second technology is a novel, molecular cargo-delivery system termed nanoVAST. nanoVAST is closely related to the VAST and consists of VSG-coated nanoparticles derived from trypanosome membranes that can be loaded with therapeutic cargo and targeted to specific cell types.