Custom Polyclonal Antibody Generation

AltaBioscience offers a comprehensive custom polyclonal antibody production service that is fully UK Home Office compliant. All aspects of the service are conducted in our UK laboratories, ensuring the highest standards of quality and animal welfare.

Our UK-based facilities, certified to ISO/IEC 9001:2015, are equipped to provide custom polyclonal antibodies against a wide range of antigens. We manage all phases of the polyclonal antibody services in-house, from antigen design to antibody production, ensuring a fast and efficient process. Our custom polyclonal antibody production services include antibodies raised against peptides and proteins. Protein antigens can be supplied by the client, sourced internally by AltaBioscience, or we can synthesise a peptide antigen based on your specific design.

We offer a flexible production package, or you can select the elements of our polyclonal antibody services that best suit your needs, including:

• Assistance in the design of the antigen.
• Peptide antigen synthesis is available as an 8-branched MAP peptide or peptide-protein conjugate.
• Custom immunisation in rabbits or sheep for larger serum volumes.
• Production of affinity columns for antibody purification.
• Purification of antibodies using protein A, protein G, or affinity column techniques.
• ELISA testing of test bleeds against the target antigen.

Antibody generation process

The standard procedure for custom polyclonal antibody production involves six immunisations at two-week intervals, followed by three bleeds and an additional pre-immune bleed. If necessary, this program can be modified or extended to meet specific client needs, while remaining compliant with UK regulations and the animal facility’s licence. Our custom polyclonal antibody production process typically uses Freund’s Adjuvant, but other adjuvants are available on request. Test bleeds are provided after each bleed for client assays, with the terminal serum delivered at the end of the program – either raw or purified.

The choice of animal for custom polyclonal antibody production depends on the volume of serum required and the desired characteristics of the antibodies. Larger mammals, such as sheep or goats, are often preferred as they yield larger amounts of serum. The phylogenetic relationship between the antigen donor and the animal used for pAB production is another important consideration; a greater evolutionary distance between these species can result in a stronger antibody response, enhancing the quality of pAB production outcomes.