SurModics, EGEN continue collaboration on long-term controlled release of siRNA complexes

SurModics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRDX), a leading provider of drug delivery and surface modification technologies to the healthcare industry and EGEN, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing nucleic acid (DNA and RNAi) therapeutics for the treatment of human diseases, are pleased to announce they have executed a continuation of their feasibility collaboration focused on long-term controlled release of siRNA complexes. In work presented earlier this year at the Boston TIDES 2010 meeting, the companies disclosed more than 100 days of sustained release of siRNA nanocomplexes in vitro. Importantly, a high degree of gene knockdown was maintained with little indication of degradation of the released complexes. The kinetics of siRNA nanocomplex release can be modulated by alterations in formulation, providing a broad range of extended release systems. In this work, EGEN's proprietary TheraSilence™ nanoparticles were used in combination with SurModics' proprietary Eureka™ DUET platform. Work is progressing to further optimize the combination of these technologies leading to evaluation in relevant animal models.