A United States Government agency has selected University of Queensland researchers to develop technology for personalised RNA medicines to be produced in hospitals, allowing lifesaving treatments to reach patients within days. UQ’s BASE mRNA Facility is part of a consortium of companies, universities and research institutes with potential… Read More
CasZyme and Cirena have signed an agreement to collaborate on optimising the editing efficiency of CasZyme’s Cas12l CRISPR nuclease in human-relevant applications using Cirena’s synthetic 150-170nt guide RNAs. If successful, the work could improve editing efficiency of any resultant T-cell therapies (like CAR-T treatments), as well as… Read More
Ractigen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering small activating RNA (saRNA) therapeutics and advanced extrahepatic delivery systems, has closed a new financing round exceeding $31 million (over RMB 200 million). The round was led by Guozhong Capital, with participation from IDG Capital, China Everbright Limited, Jolmo Capital, Win-Win Capital, and SND Financial… Read More
This is the latest episode of the free DDW Narrated Podcast. The episode covers two articles written for DDW Volume 25, Issue 2, Spring 2024. The first article is called ‘Why more work is needed to fight antimicrobial resistance’. In the article, DDW Editor Reece Armstrong speaks to Professor… Read More
Atrium Therapeutics has launched as a newly independent, publicly traded company developing RNA therapeutics for people living with rare, life-threatening genetic cardiomyopathies. Atrium Therapeutics was established in connection with Avidity Biosciences’ acquisition by Novartis. The company is led by Kathleen Gallagher, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO),… Read More
The latest episode of the DDW Highlights Podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Bruno Quinney narrates five key stories of the previous week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry news. Last week, researchers made a key discovery into cancer survival. Elsewhere, a global research effort… Read More
News round-up for 9 – 13 February by Bruno Quinney, Content Team at DDW. This week in DDW, researchers have made a key discovery into cancer survival. Elsewhere, a global research effort into kidney disease is underway. The top stories: Researchers identify RNA linked to cancer… Read More
Researchers at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center have identified a novel RNA molecule that plays a crucial role in preserving the integrity of a key cellular structure, nucleolus. This research reveals an RNA molecule that regulates key cellular functions without turning into protein, thus functioning… Read More
Biotechnology companies STORM Therapeutics and AlidaBio have announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of cancer therapies targeting RNA modifications. STORM will utilise AlidaBio’s EpiPlex and EpiScout next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms to detect and quantitatively measure transcript-specific N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modifications, resulting from METTL3 inhibition. Post-transcriptional modification of RNA, including N6-methyladenosine… Read More
Biotechnology company Alithea Genomics has announced a collaboration with manufacturer SPT Labtech to provide an automated solution for single-cell transcriptomics. The collaboration integrates Alithea Genomics’ ultra-sensitive single-cell RNA-seq technology, MERCURIUS FLASH-seq, with SPT Labtech’s firefly liquid handling platform, which the companies say will create a scalable and reproducible workflow… Read More
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Quantoom Biosciences have executed a non-exclusive research license and supply agreement to support the development of personalised cancer therapies using Quantoom’s lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation technology, Ncapsulate QCX-002. Under the agreement, MSK will use Ncapsulate QCX-002, an LNP delivery chemistry… Read More
Sanofi has bought the rights to Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals first-in-class RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic candidate for hypertriglyceridemia in Greater China. Under the agreement, Sanofi will pay $130 million upfront and up to $265 million in potential regulatory milestones to Visirna Therapeutics, a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead. … Read More
DDW Editor Reece Armstrong speaks to Josh Mandel-Brehm, CEO of CAMP4 Therapeutics, about challenges in the discovery and development of RNA therapeutics. RA: Why has regulatory RNA historically not been exploited as a therapeutic target? JMB: Historically, RNA has been viewed primarily as a messenger — a passive intermediary… Read More
Circio Holding and NeoRegen Biotech have signed a second Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) to advance their ongoing collaboration for the delivery of circular RNA (circRNA) expression-based therapeutics. The collaboration now is progressing to the in vivo preclinical stage following successful proof-of-concept (POC) results from… Read More
Biotech Tessera Therapeutics has presented updates across its in vivo genetic medicine programmes for Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), Phenylketonuria (PKU), and Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), as well as advances in in vivo T cell therapies. These data were shared across four oral presentations and three poster presentations at the American Society of Gene and… Read More
Eli Lilly has entered into an agreement to develop and commercialise novel RNA-editing therapies using Rznomics’ proprietary trans-splicing ribozyme platform. Rznomics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in South Korea focused on developing RNA-based gene therapies. The collaboration focuses on the discovery and development of… Read More
