Antisense News and Research

RSS

Antisense is the non-coding strand in double-stranded DNA. The antisense strand serves as the template for mRNA synthesis.

Researchers develop morpholino oligonucleotides that can turn off specific genes

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a way to "cage" genetic off switches in such a way that they can be activated when exposed to UV light. Their technology gives scientists a more precise way to control and study gene function in localized areas of developing organisms.

29 Oct 2010

Regulus receives $10M equity investment from sanofi-aventis

Regulus Therapeutics Inc. announced today that the Company has received a $10 million equity investment from sanofi-aventis in connection with the landmark alliance the two companies entered into on June 21, 2010. The equity investment by sanofi-aventis further strengthens the balance sheet of Regulus, and with this investment sanofi-aventis becomes the third investor in Regulus, along with its founding companies Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc..

29 Oct 2010

Antigene therapy uses light energy to silence gene activity: Review article

Antigene therapy is a promising new treatment strategy that uses a DNA-based drug to pinpoint light energy to a target gene shutting down its activity.

22 Oct 2010

Regulus present advancements in microRNA platform at Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society meeting

Regulus Therapeutics Inc. announced today that advancements from its leading microRNA platform and product pipeline were presented at the "6th Annual Meeting of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society" held October 20 - 23, 2010 in Dana Point, California.

22 Oct 2010

EPO grants new patent to Silence Therapeutics’ RNAi structural modification technology

Silence Therapeutics plc announces that the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted a new patent that provides broad protection on novel aspects of the RNAi structural modification technology known as the Zamore Design Rules.

20 Oct 2010

Bioniche's research scientists give presentations at Modern Vaccine and Adjuvant Formulation Conference

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. a research-based, technology driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced that two of its senior research scientists gave presentations at the Modern Vaccine and Adjuvant Formulation Conference in Cannes, France this week.

18 Oct 2010

Prosensa receives £7.5M milestone payment in GSK2402968 Phase IIa trial for DMD

Prosensa, the Dutch biopharmaceutical company focusing on RNA modulating therapeutics, has announced that it received a £7.5m milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as a result of achieving a data milestone in its Phase IIa open label extension trial of GSK2402968 (PRO051), being developed to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) under its agreement with GSK. The milestone payment was based upon achievement of a successful safety review, with no serious safety signals observed.

13 Oct 2010

Genta announces EMA Orphan Drug designation for tesetaxel

Genta Incorporated today announced that tesetaxel, the leading oral taxane in clinical development, has been designated as an Orphan Drug by the European Medicines Agency for gastric cancer. The drug has previously received Orphan Drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for both gastric cancer and melanoma, as well as Fast Track designation by FDA for gastric cancer.

11 Oct 2010

Role of TGF-ß in cancer diseases

During this year's BIOTECHNICA exhibition, the international biotech news magazine „GEN - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News yesterday on 5 October 2010, held an information event with subsequent panel discussion featuring the topic TGF-ß an important target in cancer diseases.

7 Oct 2010

Benitec announces USPTO's reversal of all previous rejections in '099 Graham patent appeal

Benitec Limited, a leading Australian based company specialising in RNA interference (RNAi) technology is pleased to announce the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences decision ("the Decision") reversing all previous rejections in the US 6,573,099 (the '099 Graham patent) appeal.

4 Oct 2010

Teva Pharmaceuticals, OncoGenex initiate SYNERGY Phase 3 trial to evaluate custirsen

Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the initiation of SYNERGY, a global Phase 3 trial evaluating custirsen (also known as OGX-011/TV-1011) as first line therapy for the treatment of castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

30 Sep 2010

OncoGenex initiates OGX-427 Phase 2 trial for metastatic prostate cancer

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the initiation of a randomized, controlled, investigator sponsored Phase 2 trial of OGX-427 in men with metastatic prostate cancer.

27 Sep 2010

Genta commences new tesetaxel Phase 2 clinical trial in advanced bladder cancer

Genta Incorporated today announced that the Company has initiated a new Phase 2 clinical trial of tesetaxel in patients with advanced bladder cancer. Tesetaxel is the leading oral taxane in clinical development. The new trial will be conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, and at least one site in the EU.

24 Sep 2010

Santaris Pharma paves way to conduct clinical trial of miravirsen in patients with HVC

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, today announced that it has advanced miravirsen (SPC3649), the first microRNA-targeted drug to enter clinical trials, into Phase 2 studies to assess the safety and tolerability of the drug in treatment-naive patients infected with the Hepatitis C virus.

22 Sep 2010

Results of custirsen Phase 2 trial for advanced prostate cancer published in Journal of Clinical Oncology

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today publication of results from a randomized Phase 2 trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The trial results showed a survival benefit with the investigational agent OGX-011/TV1011 (custirsen) in patients with advanced prostate cancer. The median overall survival for patients who were treated with custirsen plus first-line docetaxel/prednisone was 23.8 months compared to 16.9 months for patients treated with docetaxel/prednisone alone.

22 Sep 2010

Trius and Scripps to develop antibiotics from marine biomedical sources

In an effort to tap into the vast potential of the oceans as a source for novel medical treatments, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a part of the Department of Defense (DoD), has awarded San Diego-based Trius Therapeutics, Inc. a four-and-a-half year contract worth up to $29.5 million to collaborate with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego for the development of novel antibiotics directed against microorganisms that cause serious infections.

21 Sep 2010

Mipomersen Phase 3 trial in heFH meets primary, secondary and tertiary endpoints

Genzyme Corp. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that data from the phase 3 study of mipomersen in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH) were presented today at the European Society of Cardiology's Congress 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden. The study met its primary endpoint with a 28 percent reduction in LDL-cholesterol, compared with an increase of 5 percent for placebo (p<0.001). The trial also met all of its secondary and tertiary endpoints.

2 Sep 2010

New antisense drugs may help treat accidental infections: Study

New studies show that treatments targeting specific viral genes protected monkeys infected with deadly Ebola or Marburg viruses. Furthermore, the animals were protected even when therapeutics were administered one hour after exposure-suggesting the approach holds promise for treating accidental infections in laboratory or hospital settings.

23 Aug 2010

Muscular Dystrophy Association awards $14.1M in new grants

The Muscular Dystrophy Association, which has invested almost $39 million in 2010 in worldwide research seeking treatments and cures for muscle diseases, today announced that it has awarded $14.1 million in new grants.

20 Aug 2010

MDA awards $14.1 million in new grants to advance treatments and cures for muscle diseases

18 Aug 2010