1683 KRAMER MILL ROAD, DENVER, PA 17517 TELEPHONE 717-336-1990 E

About Cocalico Biologicals Inc

Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. is a privately held, woman owned business founded in 1984.

We are staffed by over 25 dedicated, highly trained professionals. Our facilities are located on approximately 60 acres of farm land in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania . . . about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The custom production of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies is our primary focus. We also produce normal animal sera, plasmas, red blood cells, and other specialty products. Over the years, our business has grown simply through word of mouth. We work hard to satisfy our customers and are gratified that they recommend our services.

The custom production of antibodies is like a scientist's concept of the structure of an antibody . . . both simple and complex.

Whether you need a single antibody produced in one host species or multiple antibodies from a large number of host species, our team is prepared to provide you with the highest quality product and unmatched service at a very competitive price.

Please take a moment to check us out. You will find information regarding our custom services as well as other biological products. We tried to answer as many questions as possible, however, if you need additional information we will be glad to provide it.

Our contact page lists a variety of ways for you to get in touch with us.

We hope to make the custom production of your next antibody a simple process for you, too.

Thank you for your interest in Cocalico Biologicals, Inc.

Custom Antibodies

Producing high quality polyclonal antibodies requires the technical expertise that comes with many decades of experience; high quality, well maintained USDA inspected and approved laboratory animal facilities; and a dedication to properly caring for and handling the host species involved. At Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. we offer this and more.

We have extensive experience with a wide variety of antigens including but not limited to bacteria, viruses, fungi, fusion proteins and synthetic peptides. There are a variety of host species available including mice, rats, guinea pigs, chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, bovine, donkeys and horses. Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. can accommodate projects involving one animal or large scale-up projects.

We strictly follow investigator supplied production protocols. If one is not provided, we will design a program appropriate for the specific antigen. Our standard protocol is as follows:

Day 0 - Pre-bleed/Initial Inoculation
Day 14 - Boost
Day 21 - Boost
Day 35 - Test Bleed
Day 49 - Boost
Day 56 - Test Bleed

Additional procedures scheduled based on assay results:

Day 70 - Production Bleed

Day 77 - Boost

Day 84 - Production Bleed

Day 91 - Exsanguination

("Day" may vary if assay results not reported promptly by researcher)

This tentative schedule will be customized based on your assay results. The boost and bleeds scheduled after day 56 are only added to the protocol after we are advised of how the antisera work in your assays. The animals remain idle and are maintained until we are contacted by the investigator or unless previous arrangements have been made.

The appropriate dose of antigen will vary for each species. Using rabbits as the example, our standard protocol has been successfully performed using a minimum of 100ug antigen (protein) up to a maximum of 500ug (peptides) mixed with Complete Freund's Adjuvant for the initial inoculation and a minimum of 50ug antigen (protein) up to a maximum of 250ug (peptides) mixed with Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant for each of the boosters. The route of injection is normally subcutaneous and/or intramuscularly at multiple sites. Other protocols, dosages, and routes of injection may be suggested for different antigens.

Antigens may be supplied in various forms including liquid, lyophilized, in polyacrylamide gels, as a precipitate or on nitrocellulose membranes. There is no way to know which form will be the best for producing the antibody. We suggest using the form that is the easiest to prepare and gives you the highest purity of antigen. If the antigen is a non-antigenic hapten or of low molecular weight, it should be conjugated to a carrier such as KLH, BSA, ovalbumin or thyroglobulin. Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. can coordinate the conjugation for an additional fee. The concentration of the antigen supplied must be provided so that the material can be properly aliquoted for injection.

Evaluations of the test and production bleeds are normally made by the customer unless otherwise arranged. Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. will perform an ELISA for an additional fee of $65.00 per bleed. We need a minimum of 200ug of a soluble antigen to perform the ELISA. All sera is shipped as frozen on dry ice unless otherwise requested.

All projects are held in strict confidence and Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. will enter into confidentiality agreements upon request.

The cost estimates for some species on a typical 91-day production schedule are as follows:

Mouse $224.50 /each (includes ~0.5 ml sera)
Rat $255.00 /each (includes ~6 ml sera)
Guinea Pig $253.60 /each (includes ~15 ml sera)
Chicken $327.75 /each (includes ~50 ml sera; additional cost for egg yolks and IgY purification)
Rabbit $439.96 /each (includes ~100 ml sera)
Goat $1,521.80 /each (includes ~900 ml sera)
Sheep $1,293.00 /each (includes ~900 ml sera)
Inquire for current pricing on Alpaca, Bovine, and Donkey

These prices include the cost of the host species, daily care and maintenance for 91 days, 1 pre-bleed, 5 inoculations, 2 test bleeds, the volume of sera listed above and the disposal charge.

Freight charges are not included.

Please call for a quotation on your specific project. Quotations will include the following items as they apply:

Initial cost of host species
Per diem charge
Pre-bleeds/test bleeds
Inoculations
Production bleeds/Exsanguination
Plasmapheresis
Special injections (i.e., lymph nodes, intrasplenic)
Conjugation of antigen
Evaluation of antisera by ELISA

Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. will not accept antigens that are pathogenic, toxic and/or carcinogenic.

Licenses and Assurance Number:

USDA Dealers License: 23-B-0028
USDA Research License: 23-R-0089

Animal Welfare Assurance No. D16-00398 (A3669-01)

FDA Blood Establishment ID 3039674384

If you wish to use our custom service, please click Ready with an Antigen. There you will find the Project and Assurance Forms that must be completed and submitted along with your antigen.

Ready with an Antigen?

Biological Products

Biological Products that include but are not limited to the following:

Sera, Non-Filtered
Sera, Filtered
Specialty Sera, Filtered (specified: breed, strain, age, gender)
Charcoal Treated sera, Filtered
Delipidated Sera, Filtered
Plasmas, Non-Filtered
Plasmas, Filtered
Related Biological Products (Tissues, Glands, Organs, Reticulocyte Rich Blood, and Reticulocyte Lysate)
Animal Whole Blood Products (Red Blood Cells)

Please inquire about other related biological products not listed.

Ready to Order

Here's How to Order Custom Antibodies:

Antigens are accepted Monday through Friday.

No packages received on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays.

If you wish to use our custom service, please click on the link below to complete the

Project and Assurance Forms. Return them to us with your antigen.

Questions? E-mail technicalservices@cocalicobiologicals.com or call (717) 336-1990.

Please send antigen to:
Cocalico Biologicals, Inc.
1683 Kramer Mill Rd
Denver, PA 17517

Project and Assurance Forms

Here's How to Order Biological Products:

All orders should contain the following information:

Purchase Order Number
Catalog Number and Product Description
Quantity and Sizes Required
Shipping and Billing Addresses
Telephone Number and Contact
Special Instructions

Please send orders to: customerservice@cocalicobiologicals.com

Terms & Conditions:

Shipping

All shipments are made "best way" in our judgement, unless otherwise specified. Freight charges are prepaid, F.O.B. Denver, PA, and added to the invoice.

Terms

Payment terms are net 30 days in U.S. dollars. All balances over 30 days are subject to a 1.5% monthly finance charge. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Discounts and Standing Orders

Price discounts are available for large quantity and standing orders. Please call for additional information and special pricing.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation of orders for inventory items must be made within 48 hours of the scheduled shipping date. Custom orders are firm and non-cancelable.

Returns

No returns will be accepted without prior approval by Cocalico Biological, Inc. Only unopened merchandise may be returned. We must be notified within 10 days of receipt of order.

Condition of Sale

All products are FOR LABORATORY USE ONLY, not for diagnostic or therapeutic uses.

Limited Warranty

Sales are otherwise without any seller's warranty or representation expressed, implied or statutory. Claims are limited to replacement of unacceptable product or refund of purchase price. Seller shall not be liable for indirect, special or consequential damages resulting from use of the product.

Get Answers

Please reach us at customerservice@cocalicobiologicals.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

Regulatory issues

Federal regulations require all organizations producing antibodies to maintain a current USDA research license and a current Animal Welfare Assurance with NIH's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. holds the following:

Animal Welfare Assurance No. D16-00398 (A3669-01)
Effective date: May 13, 2024
Expiration date: March 31, 2028

USDA Research license 23-R-0089
Expiration date: January 1, 3000

Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. is a registered blood establishment with FDA; Federal Establishment ID 3039674384

Host species available

Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. offers antibody production in mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep, donkeys, alpacas, bovine, and horses.

Submitting an antigen

Please send your antigen to us via any of the common couriers (UPS, FedEx, etc.). We have no specific requirements as to how the materials are to be shipped. We would suggest shipping at a temperature equivalent to the one used to store the antigen (i.e. if frozen ship on dry ice, if refrigerated ship with cold packs). Please include a set of completed Project Forms and the Non-Duplication Statement along with your antigen. You may also complete the Project Forms and submit them online.

Amount of antigen required and concentration

The following are the minimum estimated quantities of antigen need for a standard schedule:

Mice — Protein antigen = 100ug; Peptide antigen = 400ug
Rats — Protein antigen = 175ug; Peptide antigen = 700ug
Guinea pigs — Protein antigen = 175ug; Peptide antigen = 700ug
Rabbits — Protein antigen = 500ug; Peptide antigen = 2mg
Chickens — Protein antigen = 500ug; Peptide antigen = 2mg
Goats — Protein antigen = 2mg; Peptide antigen = 4mg
Sheep — Protein antigen = 2mg; Peptide antigen = 4mg
Inquiry for Alpacas, Bovine, and Donkeys

Acceptable forms of antigen

We will accept antigens in a variety of forms, including a soluble liquid, lyophilized, an insoluble precipitate, as a gel slice, or on a nitrocellulose membrane.

Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. standard protocol

We will be happy to follow your customized protocol. If one is not provided, we will use our standard protocol.

Day 0 = Pre-bleed/Initial Inoculation
Day 14 = Boost
Day 21 = Boost
Day 35 = Test Bleed
Day 49 = Boost
Day 56 = Test Bleed

The following procedures are included in our standard protocol. We will not actually schedule them on the listed days unless we are given instructions that your assays of the day 56 test bleed indicate it is appropriate.

Day 70 = Production Bleed
Day 77 = Boost
Day 84 = Production Bleed
Day 91 = Exsanguination

Procedures are based upon your assay results. Options include monthly boost and test bleed until appropriate response obtained; monthly boost and production bleeds to stockpile sera; final boost and bleed. Our ability to collect large quantities of sera is dependent on the type of host species used.

We will not schedule any additional procedures after the day 56 test bleed until we hear back from you on how the host is responding. We want to truly customize the procedures to meet your specific needs.

You do not have to use our standard protocol. You may submit your own protocol for us to follow. We would have to go through the normal process of IACUC approval of the protocol prior to the start of your project.

Average cost of our standard protocol

The following are the estimated costs for our standard 91 day protocol. The cost includes 1 host species, 91 days of maintenance, 1 pre-bleed, 2 test bleeds, 5 injections, 2 production bleeds, the exsanguination, and the disposal charge:

Mouse $224.50 /each (includes ~0.5 ml sera)
Rat $255.00 /each (includes ~6 ml sera)
Guinea Pig $253.60 /each (includes ~15 ml sera)
Chicken $327.75 /each (includes ~50 ml sera; additional cost for egg yolks and IgY purification)
Rabbit $439.96 /each (includes ~100 ml sera; includes 2 production bleeds and the exsanguination)
Goat $1,521.80 /each (includes ~900 ml sera; includes 3 production bleeds)
Sheep $1,293.00 /each (includes ~900 ml sera; includes 3 production bleeds)
Inquiry for current pricing on Alpaca, Bovine, and Donkey

We will be happy to provide a quote for your specific protocol. Click here for quote!

Prescreening of host species

We do offer the prescreening of host species to select the one(s) to immunize with the lowest background. There are no charges associated with this service as long as the results of your assays are reported to us within two weeks of the receipt of the pre-bleed sera. We will charge daily maintenance for the period of time the animals are maintained after the two weeks without an update.

Appropriate number of hosts

There can be variability between animals in their responses, even with the same antigen and following the same immunization schedule. We therefore recommend using a minimum of two (2) animals for each antigen. The higher costs associated with alpaca, bovine, donkeys, goats, and sheep may limit the number of these hosts to just one.

Acceptable buffers and concentration for antigen

Antigens may be submitted in a variety of buffers. The best buffer for the animals is PBS or saline, however, we have successfully used such buffers as TRIS, 2M Urea, distilled water, HEPES and SDS. It is best to try to keep the concentration of the buffers as low as possible. An ideal concentration of the antigen is 1mg/ml. The most dilute the antigen can be is 100ug/ml.

Gel slices may be stained (usually Coomassie Blue) or de-stained prior to submission as an antigen. Please rinse the gel well with distilled water to remove any residual acid or alcohol. You need to estimate the amount of protein in the gel slice. Finally, place the gel slice in a tube (no buffer added; do not lyophilize or homogenize) and ship on cold packs by an overnight courier. The use of gel slices is not appropriate in smaller species such as rodents.

Peptide conjugation

We suggest the conjugation of peptides that are less than 20 amino acids in length. We can conjugate the peptide to KLH, BSA, ovalbumin or thyroglobulin. You may wish to add a Cysteine for conjugation if there is no other Cysteine in the native sequence. It is preferable to conjugate to a single point.

Initiating an antisera project

An antibody project can be initiated simply by sending us your antigen along with the completed Project Forms and Non-Duplication Assurance Statement. Once we receive your materials we will review the project and secure IACUC approval. We typically can start a project within 48 hours of the receipt of your antigen. Once the project has started, you will receive an email from us outlining the project details through the day 56 test bleed. We will not schedule additional procedures after the day 56 test bleed until we hear from you regarding your assay results. The appropriate course of action after day 56 is dependent on how the animals are responding. The project and assurance forms are available in the Ready to Order section.

Testing of the antisera

We send the sera from the pre-bleeds and test bleeds to you for assaying. For an extra charge, we do offer an ELISA, which would require a minimum of 500ug of soluble antigen to perform this assay. If you wish to use your antibodies in Westerns, Immunoprecipitation, or Immunohistochemistry, it is imperative that you screen the sera in those assays even if you ask us to do an ELISA. The ELISA is a good assay to determine if the animals are producing antibodies, however, it will not predict how those antibodies will work in the other assays.

Continuation of an antibody project

We would be happy to continue your project past the standard protocol. Simply tell us your needs and we will help design a schedule that is appropriate.

Shipping and storage of the antisera

Unless otherwise instructed, we will ship the antisera frozen on dry ice via priority overnight delivery. The antisera should be stored at below -10C. It is important to avoid multiple freeze thaw cycles as this tends to reduce the activity of the antibody. It is best to thaw the antisera once, aliquot it, and then store it long term at below -10C. You may store the antisera at refrigerated temperature, however, it is raw sera and should be filtered or have a preservative added to avoid contamination.

Preservation of the antisera

We do not add any preservative to the antisera prior to it being shipped, unless otherwise instructed.

Amount of antisera provided

The total amount of antisera you can obtain in a project is dependent on the host species and the number of bleeds scheduled. Typically we can collect the following volumes of sera in a standard 91 day protocol if the animals respond well by the second test bleed (some antigens will take longer and therefore the amounts we can obtain will be over a longer period of time):

Mouse - 0.5ml
Rat - 6ml
Guinea pig - 20ml
Rabbit - 100ml
Chicken - 50ml (egg yolks also provide a large amount of chicken antibody)
Goat - 900ml
Sheep - 900ml
Inquire for Alpaca, Bovine, and Donkey

We can provide even larger quantities of antisera from rabbits, chickens (usually as IgY from egg yolk), alpacas, bovine, donkeys, goats, and sheep when they are assigned to a regular production bleed schedule.

Antibodies from an inventory

All the antibodies we produce are done on a custom basis therefore we do not have any antibodies for sale from an inventory. We do not retain any of the antisera produced from the host species.

Guarantee

We cannot guarantee the performance of any biological product we produce. There are too many variables involved in the production of antibodies to be able to control the outcome of a project. We will guarantee you our best effort in the production process.

Confidentiality

We take steps to maintain the confidentiality of our clients (company names, project details, etc.). We are happy to formalize an agreement when requested. We can provide a standard confidentiality agreement or we will review one submitted by the client.

Welcome

Cocalico Biologicals, Inc. Quietly Making a Difference™