Appeal No. 2002-2209 Page 5
Application No. 08/137,168
immunogenic components present only in low concentrations. Such
components are unlikely to elicit high titre antibodies.
Id., page 7, last full paragraph.
The present invention involves appellant’s “unexpected and surprising discovery
that an antivenom (herein referred to as a ‘mixed monospecific antivenom’) comprising
a mixture of different antisera raised separately to different venoms is more effective in
neutralising the pharmacological activity of a venom than a conventional polyspecific
antivenom prepared by raising a single antiserum to a spectrum of venoms, but retains
the broad specificity of polyspecific antivenoms.” Id., page 7. Appellant postulates that
a mixture of different antisera raised separately to different venoms is more effective
than a polyspecific venom produced by use of an immunization mixture comprising a
mixture of venoms because “the low concentration, low molecular weight and poorly
immunogenic components are further diluted by highly immunogenic components.” Id.,
paragraph bridging pages 7 and 8. Appellant further postulates that “[p]roduction of a
polyspecific antivenom therefore results in an antivenom in which antibodies to some
components do not exist or are in such low concentration that their effectiveness is
negligible.” Id. Finally, appellant states:
In contrast, the mixed monospecific antivenom of the present invention
comprises a mixture of antisera raised to different venoms in separate
groups of animals. By raising the antisera separately, the number of
possible antibody populations that is available for each antiserum is the
same but the number of epitopes in the immunogen is significantly less.
Thus, it is postulated that the component antisera contain a higher
proportion of protective antibodies against low molecular weight, poorly
immunogenic components than polyspecific antivenoms. Combination of
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