Bio-Path licenses siRNA targeted delivery tech
Researchers have identified antisense and siRNA as promising therapeutics for targeted oncology treatments but have struggled to get high concentrations into diseased cells without causing toxicity.
By signing an exclusive licence with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, US Bio-Path believes it can improve this situation. Bio-Path has already begin developing delivery techniques but believes the licence will allow it create more focused targeting vehicles.
Animal studies of the licensed technology have been performed at MD Anderson and these demonstrated that adding the vector to the liposome can increase transfection efficiency and siRNA uptake by five to eight times.
These gains are in addition to the impact of Bio-Path’s existing drug delivery technology, which has been shown to cause a 10-fold to 30-fold increase in tumour cell uptake compared to other methods.
Bio-Path believes that liposome tumour targeting is the “next generation approach” to delivery and builds upon its existing neutral lipid-based technology. The company added that the technology will increase the efficacy of treatments and reduce toxic side effects.
Furthermore, by applying the licensed technology to its core delivery method Bio-Path believes it can “reinvent [its] intellectual property portfolio”, giving the business patent protection “well into the future”.
Bio-Path plans to begin a Phase I trial using its older delivery technology in the fourth quarter of 2009. Under the terms of the new licensing deal Bio-Path has entered into a sponsored research agreement with MD Anderson to further develop liposome tumour targeting technology.
