Oligonucleotide News and Research

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Chemical engineers design way to manufacture peptides in mere hours

Small protein fragments, also called peptides, are promising as drugs because they can be designed for very specific functions inside living cells. Insulin and the HIV drug Fuzeon are some of the earliest successful examples, and peptide drugs are expected to become a $25 billion market by 2018.

19 Mar 2014

Regado receives Fast Track designation from FDA for REG1

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of actively controllable therapeutics, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has designated REG1 for anticoagulant therapy to be used in patients with coronary artery disease during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) as a Fast Track development program.

10 Mar 2014

OPKO Health consolidated revenues increase about 30% to $20.7 million in Q4 2013

OPKO Health, Inc., a multi-national biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company, today reported operating and financial results for its 2013 fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2013.

4 Mar 2014

New approach for reducing levels of toxic protein fragments associated with Huntington's disease

An innovative therapeutic strategy for reducing the levels of toxic protein fragments associated with Huntington's disease uses a new approach called exon skipping to remove the disease-causing component of the essential protein, huntingtin.

11 Feb 2014

Scientists develop new approach to design drugs from genome sequence

In research that could ultimately lead to many new medicines, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a potentially general approach to design drugs from genome sequence. As a proof of principle, they identified a highly potent compound that causes cancer cells to attack themselves and die.

10 Feb 2014

Chinese and American researchers introduce new approach to gene therapy

Resistance of tumor cells toward multiple cytostatic drugs is a serious problem in cancer treatment. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team of Chinese and American researchers has now introduced a new approach to gene therapy that could counter this problem: The gene that codes for resistance is “silenced” through the use of an ingenious nanocomplex.

22 Jan 2014

New technology efficiently transfers investigational antibodies from blood via blood-brain barrier

Today the scientific journal Neuron published results on the Roche-designed Brain Shuttle technology that efficiently transfers investigational antibodies from the blood through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the brain in preclinical models.

10 Jan 2014

FDA grants orphan drug designation for DiaVacs' type 1 diabetes mellitus therapy

DiaVacs, Inc. announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation for the company's type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) therapy.

6 Jan 2014

Marina Biotech, Mirna modify license agreement regarding development of microRNA-based therapeutics

Marina Biotech, Inc., a leading oligonucleotide-based drug discovery and development company, and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company pioneering microRNA replacement therapy for cancer, announced today that they have amended their license agreement regarding the development and commercialization of microRNA-based therapeutics utilizing Mirna's proprietary microRNAs and Marina Biotech's novel SMARTICLES liposomal delivery technology.

3 Jan 2014

New technique could help researchers unlock the secrets of respiratory syncytial virus

By the time they're two, most children have had respiratory syncytial virus and suffered symptoms no worse than a bad cold. But for some children, especially premature babies and those with underlying health conditions, RSV can lead to pneumonia and bronchitis - which can require hospitalization and have long-term consequences.

30 Dec 2013

Cell transplantation, gene therapy combination to open new therapeutic avenues for Alzheimer's disease

In a recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 33, 2013), Prof. Feng Li and team from Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University in China, synthesized a 19-nt oligonucleotide targeting BACE1, the key enzyme in amyloid beta protein (Aβ) production, and introduced it into the pSilenCircle vector to construct a short hairpin (shRNA) expression plasmid against the BACE1 gene.

24 Dec 2013

Mouse study highlights importance of microorganisms in optimal cancer treatment outcomes

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22 Nov 2013

Study uncovers novel mechanism that helps govern regulated gene expression

A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shines a new light on molecular tools our cells use to govern regulated gene expression. The study was published on line in advance of print November 10 in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

13 Nov 2013

Agilent collaborates with Baylor College of Medicine to provide CGH microarrays to researchers

Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced it is collaborating with Baylor College of Medicine's Medical Genetics Laboratories to provide customized CGH (comparative genomics hybridization) microarrays to researchers worldwide. Six new microarray designs unite the power of Baylor's data-rich expertise in genetics research with Agilent's microarray manufacturing capabilities to enable advanced discoveries in cancer and cytogenetics research.

12 Nov 2013

Researchers identify novel therapeutic approach for most frequent genetic cause of ALS

A team of scientists led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have identified a novel therapeutic approach for the most frequent genetic cause of ALS, a disorder of the regions of the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement, and frontal temporal degeneration, the second most frequent dementia.

10 Nov 2013

Alnylam advances Development Candidate for ALN-AS1 for treatment of hepatic porphyrias

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it is advancing its Development Candidate for ALN-AS1, an RNAi therapeutic targeting aminolevulinate synthase-1 (ALAS-1) for the treatment of hepatic porphyrias including acute intermittent porphyria (AIP).

9 Oct 2013

New method to monitor activity of gene promoters during response to drug

When developing new drugs, monitoring cellular responses to candidate compounds is essential for assessing their efficacy and safety. Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies report a new method to monitor and quantify the activity of gene promoters during the response to a drug, using the advanced gene expression analysis method CAGE followed by single-molecule sequencing.

3 Oct 2013

Chemists Find New Way To Put The Brakes On Cancer

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10 Sep 2013

Researchers develop TSUNAMI method to create animal model of adult-onset version of SMA

A research team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has used a recently developed technology they call TSUNAMI to create the first animal model of the adult-onset version of spinal muscular atrophy, a devastating motor-neuron illness.