Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Inc. tkRNAi Technology to be Presented at the RNAi-2007-Boston Meeting: RNA Interference: Biochemistry to Drugs & Therapeutics

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Cequent Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in the development of novel products to deliver RNAi-based treatments to prevent and treat human disease, announced that Johannes Fruehauf, MD, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, co-inventor of Cequent's proprietary TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi(TM)) technology, will present the technology at the RNAi-2007-Boston meeting: RNA Interference: Biochemistry to Drugs & Therapeutics.

The presentation, "TransKingdom RNAi (tkRNAi): Bacteria deliver RNA interference in vitro and in vivo," is scheduled for 10:20 am on Friday, May 4, 2007. The conference runs May 2-4 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About tkRNAi(TM)- TransKingdom RNA Interference

Our tkRNAi technology offers an elegant "Trojan horse" solution to the problem of how to deliver the molecules triggering RNAi into the target cells and diseased tissues. In a proprietary process, we modify live, nonpathogenic E. coli bacteria to produce and deposit mediators of RNA interference (short hairpin RNA) directly into the target cells. The nonpathogenic bacteria are subsequently degraded by the host cells without adverse effects, and eliminated by the body through its own natural processes. This method has been shown to induce targeted gene silencing (in other words, it disables the "bad" gene or genes that cause disease, without affecting the surrounding genes), delivering significant therapeutic effects in multiple model systems, including live animals. All of the clinical drug candidates in our pipeline are based on this tkRNAi technology.

About Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

An early-stage biopharmaceutical company, Cequent is pioneering the development of novel therapeutics to prevent and treat a wide range of human diseases - from viral infections to cancer - based on the company's proprietary technology, TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi(TM)). The company's first products, now in pre-clinical development, are drug candidates targeting colon-cancer prevention and inflammatory bowel disease. We designed our powerful tkRNAi technology to deactivate specific disease-causing genes safely and effectively, using non-pathogenic bacteria as an engine to produce and deliver RNAi directly into cells. It is based on ground-breaking scientific research originating at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. A privately held company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cequent was established in 2006 with seed funding from Ampersand Ventures, New England Partners, and Pappas Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.cequentpharma.com.

Media Contact: Caroline Grossman - 781.771.5579 - caroline.grossman@gmail.com

CONTACT: Caroline Grossman, +1-781-771-5579, caroline.grossman@gmail.com,for Cequent Pharmaceuticals

Web site: http://www.cequentpharma.com/