ExonanoRNA LLC., based in Columbus, Ohio, and MDimune Inc., headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, have entered into a service agreement to develop targeted siRNA therapy in oncology application on March 8th, 2021.
ExonanoRNA LLC., based in Columbus, Ohio, and MDimune Inc., headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, have entered into a service agreement to develop targeted siRNA therapy in oncology application on March 8th, 2021. By combining ExonanoRNA’s RNA NanoParticle Displaying Exosomes Delivery System (ExRNP) and MDimune’s BioDrone® platform technology based on cell-derived vesicles (CDVs), this collaborative approach provides resources and scope that will propel both companies to the next level of targeted drug delivery, such as siRNA, in various applications including oncology.
The siRNA is a very powerful avenue for an entire class of drug development for previously undruggable targets. However, intracellular delivery has been a challenge as a successful application of siRNA requires delivery into the cell cytoplasm while avoiding clearance by endosomes. The evolvement of exosome technology or MDimune’s cell-derived vesicles provides an excellent tool to avoid endosome trapping of siRNA after its cellular update.
RNA nanotechnology has long been pursued to provide a system that can specifically enhance nanomedicine’s targeting of cancer cells but not healthy cells since the negative charge of RNA nanoparticles reduces nonspecific interaction with negatively charged cell membranes. By harnessing advanced RNA nanotechnology, ExonanoRNA has published multiple results showing specific targeting of tumors using ExRNA in animal models.
MDimune, since its foundation in 2015, has been committed to the development and implementation of state-of-the-art BioDrone® platform technology. BioDrone® is an innovative technology that relies on CDVs, nanosized vesicles obtained from various cells by using proprietary extrusion method to achieve target-specific drug delivery. With superior productivity compared to exosomes, BioDrone® is emerging as a highly versatile and scalable delivery system to combat diverse debilitating human diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, and rare diseases.
“ExonanoRNA’s expertise in the RNA delivery field makes this collaboration exciting for both companies. We are thrilled to have such an important collaboration, as well as to see what the future brings together,” said Fengmei Pi, Ph.D., General Manager and Director of R&D of ExonanoRNA. Seung Wook Oh, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of MDimune also emphasized that “Achieving selective delivery of CDVs to target tissues, such as cancer, is key to the success of MDimune’s BioDrone® platform technology. This joint endeavor with ExonanoRNA will quickly elevate our drug delivery platform to the next level.”
For more information, please visit company websites at http://www.mdimune.com/en/ and https://www.exonanorna.com/.
