I/We Claim:
1. A process for obtaining an antigen binding protein against Klebsiella
pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), said process comprising:
(a) immunizing an equine with an antigen formulation comprising a
5 pool of K. pneumoniae strains and an adjuvant;
(b) collecting blood from the equine after 100 – 300 days, and isolating
plasma from the blood;
(c) diluting the plasma with saline to obtain a diluted plasma;
(d) precipitating the diluted plasma of step (c) with at least one saturated
10 fatty acid to obtain a plasma-acid mixture; and
(e) processing the plasma-acid mixture to obtain the antigen binding
protein against K. pneumoniae.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjuvant is selected from
Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), or Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA).
15 3. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pool of K. pneumoniae strains
comprises subtypes of O and K antigens.
4. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the subtypes are O1, O2, O3, O5,
O8, K1, and K2.
5. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein immunizing the equine is with a
dose in the range of at least 2x1010 to 100x1010 20 cells/ml of the antigen
formulation.
6. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one fatty acid is
octanoic acid