Appeal No. 2002-2209 Page 10
Application No. 08/137,168
A second approach is to mix monospecific antisera, each produced in
separate animals. This method maximizes the possible number of
available antibody-producing cells and, in theory, should provide a wider
range of specific antibodies. However, because these antisera are then
mixed, a dilution effect is produced, the magnitude of which is dependent
on the number of monospecific antisera included in the product. Such
dilution should, in theory, reduce the effectiveness of such a product, but
because many venoms are highly cross-reactive (for the reasons given
above) the dilution effects are again much reduced. Experiments to
monitor the ability of both poly-, monospecific and mixed monospecific
antivenoms to neutralize the phospholipase activity of crotalid venoms
have shown that, as anticipated, monospecific products often offer the
best protection, while mixed monospecific antivenoms are in general
better than polyspecific antivenoms (Fig. 6.2).
Id., page 124. Figure 6.2 of Theakston appears to be a duplicate of Figure 2 of this
application. In other words, the conclusion reached by Theakston in this portion of the
document appears to be based upon the same data present in this application that is
graphically depicted in Figure 2. This is not surprising since, as noted above, present
appellant D.C. Smith is a co-author of the Theakston article.
These portions of Theakston are of interest since they state in a positive manner
that “a second approach is to mix monospecific antisera.” This is all that claim 37 on
appeal requires. Turning to Christensen, the source document relied upon for this prior
art knowledge, we find that Christensen acknowledges that “[s]ome laboratories prepare
polyvalent sera by blending several monovalent sera.“ While Christensen does state
that “others, including ourselves, prefer to immunize the horses with all the antigens,”
the fact remains that Christensen acknowledges that as of 1966 it was not novel to
blend “several monovalent sera.” Again, this is all that claim 37 on appeal
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