Date: 2018-05-30
Type of information: Research agreement
Compound: asymmetric siRNA (asiRNA)
Company: BioMolecular Therapeutics (BMT) (Republic of Korea) Samyang (Republic of Korea)
Therapeutic area: undisclosed
Type agreement: research
Action mechanism: RNAi - siRNA
Disease: undisclosed
Details:
- • On May 30, 2018, BioMolecular Therapeutics (BMT), a Korean biopharmaceutical company with proprietary RNAi trigger technology, announced that it started a research project for Samyang for RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics development (Research title: “optimization of asiRNA and in vitro & in vivo validation”).
- BMT holds “asymmetric siRNA (asiRNA)” technology, an alternative RNAi trigger to conventional small interfering RNA (siRNA). Although the commonly used conventional siRNA molecules efficiently trigger target gene silencing, recent studies revealed that the conventional RNAi triggers evoke several non-specific effects including activation of innate immune response through the Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3). Especially, the discovery of the non-specific activation of TLR3 by siRNAs is of concern and led to the termination of clinical trials targeting AMD. Therefore, the next generation RNAi technology with alleviated non-specific effects is considered to be crucial for the successful development of RNAi therapeutics.
BMT is pursuing internal R&D programs to develop an RNAi –based medicine and also offering research collaborations. The company is currently collaborating with Prof. Jayakrishna Ambati’s group at University of Kentucky Medical Center to develop RNAi therapeutics for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment.
Currently, BMT is developing RNAi medicine for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, a disease to which RNAi therapeutics could not be developed using conventional siRNAs. BMT is also developing RNAi therapeutics for scarless wound healing.
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