CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cequent Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in the development of novel products to deliver RNAi-based treatments to prevent and treat human disease, announced that its founder, Chiang Li, MD, will present a scientific poster on Cequent’s proprietary TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi(TM)) technology at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). Co-inventor, Johannes Fruehauf, MD, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, will also present at the centennial meeting, which will take place April 14 to 18, 2007, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The poster presentation, “Bacteria deliver RNA interference in vitro and in vivo for cancer therapy: tkRNAi,” is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, 2007, from 1 to 5 pm in the exhibit hall.
About tkRNAi(TM)- TransKingdom RNA Interference
RNA interference (RNAi) holds great promise for the development of novel therapies based on its high specificity and potency. One major difficulty impeding the wider development of RNAi-based therapies, however, is the need to deliver the molecules triggering RNAi (short interfering RNA) into the target cells and diseased tissues. Cequent’s tkRNAi technology offers an elegant “Trojan horse” solution to the delivery problem; nonpathogenic bacteria are modified to produce and deposit mediators of RNA interference (short hairpin RNA) directly into the target cells. This method, which has been shown to induce gene silencing and therapeutic effects in multiple model systems, including live animals, forms the basis for Cequent’s pipeline of clinical drug candidates.
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 inflammatory diseases 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. Cequent designed its 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
About the AACR
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes more than 24,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 70 other countries. AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. For more information, visit http://www.aacr.org
Cequent Pharmaceuticals
CONTACT: Caroline Grossman of Cequent Pharmaceuticals, +1-781-771-5579,caroline.grossman@gmail.com
