Synpromics Announces New Partnership with UCL to Develop Novel Gene Therapies for Blood-Based Disorders

EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Synpromics, the leader in gene control, announces a collaboration with University College London (UCL) Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, to develop novel gene therapies for pathologies affecting the haematopoietic system. This new partnership further expands Synpromics’ activities in the cell and gene therapy sector, as it builds on its strategy of establishing partnerships with leading academics in the UK to integrate its technology into the next generation of gene-based medicines.

This research and development agreement with Professor Adrian Thrasher’s clinical research group at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, will develop synthetic tissue-specific promoters for use in the specialised cells of the immune system including lymphoid, myeloid and microglia cells.

The objective of this work is to develop synthetic promoters that can be directly applied to gene-modified cell therapy, particularly where cells such as microglia or other myeloid cells can be used to deliver a therapeutic protein to the target pathologic sites. Similarly, output from the collaboration also has direct applications to further improve CAR-T therapy.

Commenting on the new collaboration, Dr Michael Roberts, founder and CSO of Synpromics said: “We are tremendously excited to be working with Adrian Thrasher and Dr Giorgia Santilli from UCL. Our technology is particularly suitable for developing gene and cell therapies for blood-based disorders. We’re able to design promoters that are active in any cellular lineage of the haematopoietic system by leveraging the subtle changes in transcription profiles that are evident in the different cell populations present in the blood. By embarking on this collaboration, we aim to develop a portfolio of promoters that have broad applications in multiple disease indications.”

The company is expanding its commercial activities in the gene therapy sector by seeding the development of new candidate gene therapies for the treatment of numerous pathologies, where tight and effective regulation of gene expression is key to the success of the therapy. This collaboration heralds an important landmark in that development programme.

Professor Adrian Thrasher added, “Developing tools for gene therapy of devastating rare disease is our core business. We are therefore really delighted to enter this scientific collaboration with Synpromics in order to maximise the breadth and efficacy of our therapies.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

About Synpromics

Synpromics is the leader in gene control, improving human health by enabling safer, more effective cell and gene medicines through proprietary genomics, bioinformatics and intelligent data-driven design. The company has developed PromPT^®, its multi-dimensional bioinformatics database that enables product-specific promoter design and selection empowering the next generation of cell and gene based medicines and bioprocessing applications. The company operates in a diverse range of fields, including broad applications in cell and gene based medicine, biologics manufacturing and viral vector bioprocessing. Current partners include Adverum, uniQure, AGTC, GE Healthcare, Homology Medicines Inc and Sartorius-Stedim Cellca as well as numerous undisclosed partners in the pharmaceutical sector.

About Synthetic Promoters

Promoters are the natural switches that control the expression of genes into proteins, and are responsible for decoding the genome. Naturally occurring promoters have evolved for biological functions but have limitations when utilised in industrial or therapeutic applications. Synthetic promoters with DNA sequences not found in nature are designed to better regulate gene activity and precisely control protein production. Synpromics creates highly specific promoters designed to drive gene expression at the desired level and specificity in any cell type, tissue or environmental condition. Each synthetic promoter represents a novel invention and thus can be patented. For more information visit www.synpromics.com

About UCL (University College London)

UCL was founded in 1826. We were the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to open up university education to those previously excluded from it, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international rankings and tables. UCL currently has over 39,000 students from 150 countries and over 12,500 staff. Our annual income is more than £1 billion.

www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV

 

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180124005610/en/