Dr. Alexander Eggel

At a scientific level, Dr. Eggel is involved in the discovery of novel strategies to prevent allergic hypersensitivity reactions using disruptive IgE inhibitors. Using cutting edge technology, namely a novel platform of non-immunoglobulin binding molecules termed Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins (DARPins), he identified novel inhibitory compounds of allergic hypersensitivity reactions. He recently completed an outstanding study that he initiated during his Ph.Dd thesis work, which revealed a novel class of disruptive IgE inhibitors that could potentially revolutionize allergy drug development and therapy.

Binding of IgE to FcεRI is considered to be a central event in the development of a type I allergy. In collaboration with Prof. Theodore Jardetzky’s group at Stanford University, Dr. Eggel identified and characterized a novel mechanism to remove IgE, i.e., a key-player in the allergic reaction, from its high affinity receptor (FcεRI). Therefore, the disruption of this high-affinity interaction using novel IgE inhibitors might represent a remarkable novel strategy to block allergic reactions.

University of Bern (Switzerland)