PRF&L (Pocono Rabbit Farm and Laboratory) – the Custom Antibody Company

Currently there are over hundreds of companies selling catalog antibodies or antibody-related products to those in the scientific research community. Over half of these companies provide Custom Antibody services. Examined closely, the latter group of companies can be further separated by criteria like customer service, antibody project flexibility, or innovations in the area of antibody technologies. The Pocono Rabbit Farm and Laboratory (PRF&L), a small family owned Custom Antibody company that has been in business since 1960, offers old fashion one-on-one customer service.

Over the years PRF&L services has adapted its approaches and methods to those new discoveries in the world of antibody technology and production. Beyond the addition of what are now established advances like species diversity in Polyclonal Antibody Production, and Hybridoma Development followed various In-Vitro Monoclonal Antibody Production methods, PRF&L has also implemented methods and protocols based on molecular biology and Immunology innovations in recent years such as protein antigenic domain analysis, genetic immunizations, recombinant antibody services, and the use of immune stimulators.

PRF&L prides themselves not only on quality of the antibodies they produce but also on customer service and their ability to work closely with each customer, one-on-one as needed. From answering your phone call by a real live knowledgeable person to project design, antibody production, purification and or antibody modifications and special requests or protocol modifications, PRF&L’s staff will not leave you guessing what happens next. Personalized antigenic domain analysis service is available to assist both the new and the experienced antibody customers in their initial project design. Years of experience aided by computer driven algorithms are used to predict a protein's secondary structure directly from the customer provided primary linear amino acid sequence. This analysis provides a final antigenicity cell surface probability scores and biochemical properties for each optimal peptide domain in the sequence. Support for this approach comes from published studies that have suggested there is a strong correlation between the predictions of the antigenic index and biological data. The scientific staff works closely with the customer to determine both selection of a specific peptide domains and optimal hosts. All this information is then presented to the client in a format suitable for presentation to their team for review. PRF&L’s goal is to increase the probability and production of a successful “functional” antibody the first time around.

Genetic immunization is a relatively new approach to antibody production which involves the direct immunization of the host animal with a plasmid DNA which carries genetic information that encodes the customer's protein of interest. As an alternative to immunizations with proteins, the recombinant DNA constructs are introduced into the host’s antigen processing cells where the DNA then produces the protein (or antigen) and the hosts cells processes this protein for antibody production as if it were injected. This method of producing antibodies is advantageous when the protein is difficult to express or purify. PRF&L has extensive experience in Plasmid Delivery by use of Gene Gun technology and has developed its own successful methods as well for the delivery of the customer's specific DNA molecules.

PRF&L has recognized the increasing popularity of Recombinant Monoclonal Antibodies Technology. This approach has become popular due to the increased ease of use, the speed of identification, final cost of monoclonal antibody production, ability to modify antibody affinities or genetically humanize, and the stability of an antibody cloned monoclonal scFV or Fab antibody. PRFAL can offer their clients this service at two levels, 1. Clients with on going successful antibody projects could opt to acquire the genetic information for their anti-target custom antibody (for immediate or future use in recombinant antibody technology) at the end of their project. 2. Customers who are planning the project with the immune recombinant library production (phage display), as the goal, can harvest genetic information earlier than ever before when incorporating their new Quick Draw (rapid antibody development) technology. PRF&L provides a service where RNA from both primary and secondary immune tissues can be supplied. This service is available in most PRF&L species and if preferred, the RNA can be provided in the more stable, ready-to-use form of first strand cDNA. These methods can successful when conventional polyclonal antibody production and Hybridoma development methods have failed.

Immune Stimulator Molecules have been shown to induce cytokine cascades that activate the immune cells involved in the humoral immune response to antigens. This important scientific discovery was recently licensed to and is offered by PRF&L as part of their “Quick Draw” 28 Day Antibody Production platform. When combined with commercially available adjuvant formulations this proprietary immunomodulant has been demonstrated in thousands or tests to reduce the response times in immunization schedules and induce titers that were equal to traditional 70-day immunization protocols. This program can be very advantageous to Primary Investigators who are challenged by critical timelines. Recently, several pharmaceuticals, biotechs and academic researchers have chosen PRF&L and their “Quick Draw” protocol to successfully produce quality custom antibodies much faster than before.

Providing Quality Antibody Production Services is in the details. PRF&L offers Internet monitoring of ongoing project progression 24/7. With the creation of an on-site Lab Services Group, PRF&L now has faster turn-around time for both, products and data, improved internal quality control procedures, and client access to scientific staff with years of antibody application knowledge.  The Lab Services Group has the capability of providing antibody purifications, antibody modifications, and medium to high throughput of ELISA’s (Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay Assays). Examples of improvements in quality control include monitoring percent of antigen incorporation in all affinity column preparation, purifications and bio-conjugations of small molecules being prepared for immunization. Implementing these additional steps guarantees the customer that their antibody projects are initiated, or completed with validated samples and materials, thus enhancing the chance of a successful project the first time. 

In addition to Traditional and the Quick Draw antibody production methods, PRF&L is experienced in other antibody production methods, such as anti-GPCR production and anti-phospho-peptide/protein production. Many of the additional services have evolved from the PRF&L flexibility and ability to do CUSTOM WORK for their clients. Some example of these services include RNA preparation from spleen and bone marrow for Recombinant Antibody studies, organ harvesting for Immunohistochemistry materials, various blood component isolations, or other tissue related harvest in preparation for downstream project related studies to many other custom assay developments such as the determination of optimal buffer conditions for enhanced antibody binding that may be unique to the customer’s application to hard to acquire native protein isolations and purifications. PRF&L also holds a Class B USDA license allowing them to provide valuable non-immune or normal tissues and blood products for research or teaching purposes.

PRF&L is a USDA Licensed Class R Research Facility, as well as being OLAW (Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare) assured and maintains full accreditation by AAALAC (Association for the Assessment and Accreditation for Laboratory Animal Care International) and their employee’s are AALAS (American Association of Laboratory Animal Science) certified. These conditions are strictly monitored by the PRF&L Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). PRF&L strives to be in accordance with highest standards for mitigating pain and distress in animals while at the same time ensuring a considerable contribution to scientific knowledge. Though not fully GLP compliant, PRF&L continually strives to maintain “close to” these standards in their daily operations. Thus this makes it easier to offer compliant level services under sponsor’s oversight.

The many advantages of working with a company in business for nearly 50 years may be very hard or impossible to measure or even effectively advertised. For example, the empirical knowledge of say which host may work best with certain types of proteins, to the perfection of injection methods, techniques and animal husbandry practices which have been handed down and improve upon over the years, can and do make the difference between success or failure of an antibody project. These facts and factors may not be readily known to a potential antibody customer unless passed on by a knowledgeable colleague that was a former satisfied customer or by a site visitors remarks to their company. But, this family owned and managed company has the background, dedication and knowledge drawn from the results and customer feed back compiled though out the years of completing tens of thousands of antibody projects which were done in close collaboration with well known and respected researchers including Nobel Laureates. PRF&L and the Haab family, along with their family of dedicated employees would be honored to have an opportunity to be of service the next time your or your research team is in need of Custom Antibody Production.