Peptidoglycan-targeted Lyme disease diagnostic and therapy
This technology targets a specific structural component of the Lyme disease bacterium called peptidoglycan, which persists in the body and is believed to drive the lingering symptoms many patients experience even after antibiotic treatment. The invention includes a diagnostic test that detects this bacterial fragment in patient samples using specialized antibodies or immune proteins, enabling earlier or more accurate confirmation of active Lyme disease. It also proposes treatments using those same antibodies or enzymes that break down the peptidoglycan to directly clear it from the body. Together, the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches form a platform targeting the root molecular cause of both acute and post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms.
What you could build
A companion diagnostic test and antibody-based therapeutic for Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, sold to clinical laboratories, hospital systems, and infectious disease pharmaceutical developers seeking to address a chronic condition with no current FDA-approved targeted treatment.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based infectious disease clinics, NIH-adjacent biotech firms in the Northern Virginia/DC corridor, and defense health contractors managing tick-borne illness in military populations would have direct interest.
Readiness: Concept
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Brandon L. Jutras, Christine JACOBS-WAGNER
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed January 23, 2026
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20260153509A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.