Isis Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca are teaming up to develop delivery methods for antisense oligonucleotides — short, single strands of DNA or RNA molecules.
The new delivery approaches aim to target the desired tissue more effectively. The agreement builds on an existing collaboration between AstraZeneca and Isis Pharmaceuticals, which is a specialist in the field of antisense. Initial project areas will be oncology and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (CVMD).
Rather than modulating the activity of already-formed proteins, antisense oligonucleotides act before proteins are produced at the level of messenger RNA in the cell, thus opening up new opportunities for therapeutic intervention. The new delivery methods will aim to enhance the access of antisense oligonucleotides into specific organs and cells. The methods build on Isis Pharmaceuticals' Ligand Conjugation Antisense (LICA) technology. The first example of this technology being Isis' GalNac-conjugated antisense oligonucleotides targeting liver hepatocytes, which lowers the therapeutic dose needed for liver targets by approximately ten-fold.
"This exciting collaboration very much supports AstraZeneca's research and development in the area of RNA-based therapeutics. If successful, we'll have a way to selectivity modulate therapeutic targets in specific cell types that are intractable to small molecules and antibodies. This could lead to a number of ground breaking drugs for both oncology and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases," said Susan Galbraith, Head of the Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit, AstraZeneca.
Brett Monia, Senior Vice President of Antisense Drug Discovery, Isis Pharmaceuticals said, "The collaboration expansion announced today builds upon an already successful agreement between Isis and AstraZeneca. Together, we have advanced ISIS-STAT3Rx and ISIS-ARRx in clinical development, both of which are being evaluated in patients with cancer. This opportunity also complements our internal efforts to expand the use of our technology and develop drugs with broad therapeutic applicability."
"RNA molecules play an increasingly important role in our research portfolio. We are delighted to be expanding our existing, strong collaboration with Isis Pharmaceuticals, who are leading players in RNA biology, with the aim of improving the delivery of antisense oligonucleotides to specific cardiovascular and metabolic tissue targets," said Marcus Schindler, Head of the CVMD Innovative Medicines Unit, AstraZeneca.