Sirna is being vague about its delivery methods; if the numbers fit the hype, well . . . good! Anybody sifted through their IP for delivery methods?
>>BOULDER, Colo., June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sirna Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNAI - News) today announced in a presentation at the BIO 2004 Annual International Convention that it has demonstrated reproducible and robust preclinical systemic efficacy using its proprietary chemically modified and formulated short interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Nassim Usman, Ph.D., Sirna's Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, presented the Company's preclinical results during today's morning panel discussion, "RNAi: The New Frontier in Gene Silencing."
Dr. Usman reported, "About a year and a half ago, Science Magazine named RNAi, or RNA interference, as the leading scientific 'Breakthrough of the Year.' Sirna has overcome major hurdles to transform this breakthrough science into a clinical-stage compound and to establish a robust portfolio of preclinical leads. The Company and its collaborators have demonstrated systemic efficacy in several different animal models of disease, using routes of administration that are appropriate for a human therapeutic."
Using normal systemic delivery Sirna researchers have achieved a reproducible one-log reduction of hepatitis B (HBV) viral DNA and S-antigen in a preclinical animal model using Sirna's proprietary modified siRNAs. The Company is using HBV as a surrogate model of hepatitis C (HCV) infection. Based on these groundbreaking results the Company expects to select an HCV clinical candidate by the end of this year.
As a further demonstration of the remarkable power of the RNAi mechanism and Sirna's proprietary modified siRNAs, the Company has developed siRNAs that provide long-term duration of effect in an animal model. Sirna researchers, in collaboration with Dr. Beverly Davidson, Professor at the University of Iowa, have achieved a 75 - 95% knockdown of a target gene (Green Fluorescent Protein) in the livers of transgenic animals for periods up to 3 weeks following a single, normal intravenous injection.
In addition to the Company's work on systemic efficacy, Sirna has successfully demonstrated efficacy in three different animal models of ocular angiogenesis including choroidal neovascularization (CNV) using two different routes of local administration. Following a pre-IND meeting with the FDA in March of this year, the Company is on schedule to file its IND in the fourth quarter of this year for Sirna-027, a chemically modified siRNA targeting VEGF Receptor-1. The Company is completing toxicology and manufacturing of clinical trial material for Sirna-027, and is finalizing the Phase I clinical protocol in collaboration with three investigators.
Sirna Therapeutics further announced that Howard Robin, Sirna's President and Chief Executive Officer, will present information on the Company's progress in a corporate presentation on Tuesday, June 8th at 10:45 AM Pacific Time during the BIO 2004 conference.<<
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Cheers, Tuck |
