PHARMIGA
PHARMIGA – a new generation of IgA antibodies for the pharmaceutical sector
The PHARMIGA project explores the potential of IgA antibodies for new applications in the pharmaceutical sector. While the pharmaceutical industry currently relies mainly on IgG antibodies, PHARMIGA focuses on IgA, a type of antibody naturally abundant in mucosal tissues such as the respiratory tract. The project develops new infrastructure, analytical techniques, and testing methods to effectively characterize and apply IgA. PHARMIGA has been funded through PharmaNL’s Shared Development Infrastructure (SDI) program and will officially start on 1 June 2026.
The project is led by Albert Heck and Roos Masereeuw (Utrecht University), in collaboration with a broad consortium of academic and industrial partners, including UMC Utrecht, Sanquin, and technology companies such as SCIEX, Bruker, and Richway. Together, the partners cover the full pipeline: from discovery and characterization to functional testing and application of IgA antibodies.
“The human body produces as many IgA antibodies as IgG antibodies, yet the pharmaceutical industry mainly uses IgG. We want to demonstrate the advantages of IgA-based products,” says Heck.
PHARMIGA focuses not only on scientific innovation, but also on developing infrastructure and tools specifically suited for IgA research and development. In addition, the consortium strongly invests in innovative and ethically responsible testing methods, including organ-on-chip and other advanced in vitro systems, to minimize the use of animal testing as much as possible.
The project has a four-year duration and aims to deliver multiple proof-of-concepts demonstrating the practical applicability of IgA. Ultimately, the consortium intends to make the developed knowledge and infrastructure broadly available to the biopharmaceutical sector, for example through a spin-out company or a Contract Research Organization (CRO).
Objective
To develop infrastructure, tools, and proof-of-concepts for IgA antibodies, enabling a new generation of antibody therapies to be developed and applied more rapidly within the pharmaceutical sector.
Contact
Would you like to know more about the PHARMIGA project? Please mail info_pharmiga@uu.nl.