Arbor Biotechnologies Enters into Agreement with Acuitas Therapeutics for Lipid Nanoparticle Delivery System for Use in Rare Liver Diseases
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Arbor Biotechnologies, Inc. a biotechnology company discovering and developing the next generation of genetic medicines, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Acuitas Therapeutics, a leader in the development of lipid nanoparticles (LNP).
As part of the agreement, the companies will combine the optimized delivery of Acuitas' highly validated LNP technology with Arbor’s differentiated, proprietary CRISPR gene editing technology designed for use in vivo in patients with rare liver diseases.
“We are building a robust, proprietary portfolio of genomic medicines, beginning with severe liver diseases, for which LNPs are known to provide an optimal delivery approach with their ability to efficiently target hepatocytes, limit off target toxicity and have minimal immunogenicity. We are looking forward to working with Acuitas, a leading global developer of clinically-validated LNP technology,” said Devyn Smith, Ph.D., CEO, Arbor Biotechnologies. “Importantly, we believe this partnership accelerates our path to the clinic, with an ability to leverage established and scalable manufacturing.”
Commented Dr. Thomas Madden, President & CEO of Acuitas Therapeutics: “We are excited to collaborate with Arbor on the development of novel genomic medicines for patients who currently have few, if any, therapeutic options. Arbor’s commitment to addressing this unmet clinical need resonates with Acuitas. We look forward to supporting their advance into the clinic.”
About Arbor Biotechnologies
Arbor Biotechnologies is a next-generation gene editing company focused on discovering and developing potentially curative genomic medicines. Founded by Feng Zhang, David Walt, David Scott, and Winston Yan, our proprietary discovery engine is focused on discovering genetic editing capabilities spanning knockdowns to whole gene insertions, which has enabled us to generate the most extensive toolbox of proprietary genomic editors in the industry to date. Leveraging our wholly-owned nucleases as the chassis for genetic modification, we can work backward from disease pathology to choose the optimal editing approach that specifically addresses the underlying cause of disease, resulting in a potentially curative medicine for a wider range of genetic disorders. As Arbor continues to advance its pipeline toward the clinic with an initial focus in liver and CNS disease, the Company has also secured several partnerships around gene editing and ex vivo cell therapy programs to broaden the reach of its novel nuclease technology. For more information, visit arbor.bio.
About Acuitas Therapeutics
Founded in February 2009, Vancouver-based Acuitas Therapeutics (www.acuitastx.com) is a private biotechnology company that specializes in the development of delivery systems for nucleic acid therapeutics based on lipid nanoparticles. The company partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as non-governmental organizations and academic institutes to advance nucleic acid therapeutics into clinical trials and to the marketplace. The team works with partners to develop new therapies to address unmet clinical needs based on its internationally recognized capabilities in delivery technology. Acuitas Therapeutics has agreements in place with several partners to use its proprietary lipid nanotechnology in the development of COVID-19 vaccines. These include Pfizer/BioNTech for COMIRNATY®, which has received full approval in the U.S. and Canada and is authorized for Emergency Use in Europe, the UK and many other countries. The Acuitas team is currently working on therapeutics focused on addressing cancer, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, rabies, and other serious diseases.
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