Professor Sir Greg Winter’s pioneering work using phage display for the directed evolution of antibodies has been recognised with a Nobel Prize. Professor Winter was jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Frances Arnold and George Smith.
The ground-breaking technology was developed by Professor Winter and the UK’s Medical Research Council in the 1990s via the company Cambridge Antibody Technology, which later became part of AstraZeneca.
Phage display, a platform technology that has delivered a number of the most successful antibody pharmaceuticals in the world, including AbbVie’s Humira® (adalimumab) which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Phage display is also used to produce antibodies that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and treat metastatic cancer.
We are proud to have been involved in protecting this Nobel Prize winning technology. Seán Walton, partner in our life sciences team, worked with Professor Winter on patents for phage display.
You can read more about Professor Winter and his work here.