OliX Pharmaceuticals Presents at BIO KOREA 2020 International ConventionDong-Ki Lee, Ph.D., founder and Chief Executive Officer discussed the application of company’s novel RNAi therapy platform in treatment of COVID-19

SUWON, Republic of Korea, May 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OliX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KOSDAQ: 226950), a key player in the development of RNAi therapeutics, today announced that Dong-Ki Lee, Ph.D., founder and Chief Executive Officer presented the Company’s platform technology and discussed the potential utility of siRNA therapeutics in combatting COVID-19 at BIO KOREA 2020.

During his session, “RNAi therapeutics against COVID-19,” Dr. Lee shared strategies to develop COVID-19 virus therapeutics by directly targeting the RNA genome of SARS-CoV-2 virus using RNA interference technology. OliX has established a pulmonary RNAi platform via inhalation delivery to develop therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other pulmonary diseases. Dr. Lee also participated in a panel discussion titled, “COVID-19 Therapeutics Development Prospect and Main Issues.”

“RNAi therapies present promising advantages for targeting viruses stemming from the SARS-CoV-2 genome,” said Dr. Lee. “RNAi therapy actually targets viral genomic RNA, not the protein. Due to the platform nature of RNAi therapy, we can simply change the target sequence and quickly generate anti-viral therapeutics against novel viruses. We can also potentially target multiple sequences in the viral genome, similar to cocktail therapy in AIDS, and significantly reduce the chance of viral escape by mutation.”

In this pre-recorded presentation, Dr. Lee revealed the company's strategy for developing COVID-19 siRNA therapeutics, along with results of in vitro gene silencing by selected siRNA candidates. He further commented, “In subsequent studies, we have observed viral gene silencing in our initial in vivo efficacy study. Once the RNAi efficacy in the animal model is confirmed, we will rapidly develop this program to advance into clinical trials.”

The full BIO KOREA 2020 virtual presentation can be found here.

OliX Pharmaceuticals

OliX Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics against a variety of disorders by down-regulating expression of disease-causing genes, based on its own proprietary RNAi technology. The Company’s core RNAi platform, asymmetric siRNA (asiRNA), is a unique gene silencing technology based on RNA interference (RNAi), which is considered as the most efficient gene silencing technology. Based on asiRNA technology, OliX has developed cell penetrating asiRNA (cp-asiRNA), a therapeutic RNAi platform to effectively target locally administrable diseases, such as hypertrophic scar, dry and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), subretinal fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and neuropathic pain. OliX has also developed another therapeutic RNAi platform, GalNAc-asiRNA, to target a variety of liver diseases.

asiRNA

Asymmetric small interfering RNA (asiRNA) is the next generation of RNAi therapeutics that offers efficient gene regulation. In comparison to existing siRNA therapeutics, OliX Pharmaceutical’s asiRNA shows comparable gene silencing and significantly reduce siRNA-mediated side effects such as off-target gene silencing and immune stimulation.

cp-asiRNA

Cell-Penetrating Asymmetric Interfering RNA (cp-asiRNA) is OliX Pharmaceuticals’ proprietary RNAi delivery method that efficiently silences gene expressions. cp-asiRNA can be locally administered to target various diseases with unmet needs such as hypertrophic scar, dry and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), subretinal fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and neuropathic pain.

GalNAc-siRNA

In March 2020, OliX Pharmaceuticals secured a proprietary N-Acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) platform, a RNAi therapy platform that targets variety of liver diseases. GalNAc conjugated RNAi therapeutic enables siRNA uptake by the liver hepatocytes by binding with a high affinity and specificity to the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR).

To learn more about the company, visit https://www.olixpharma.com/eng/main/main.php.
To learn more about RNAi technology, visit https://www.olixpharma.com/eng/sub2/2_2.php.

Media Contact:

Sean Leous
Westwicke/ICR PR
Phone: +1.646.677.1839
sean.leous@icrinc.com