Aptamer Group and AstraZeneca to develop new drug delivery vehicles

Aptamer Group today announced it has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to explore the potential of using aptamer technology to target the kidney. The two-year agreement will give AstraZeneca use of Aptamer Group’s proprietary technology to explore the feasibility of developing the next generation of drug delivery vehicles, called Aptamer Drug Conjugates (ApDCs).

Aptamers are oligonucleotide or peptide molecules that bind to a specific target molecule. They are emerging as promising therapeutic agents. Their ability to fold into distinct secondary or tertiary structures gives them high affinity and specific binding toward cell-specific targets. The binding aptamers can be attached to a variety of therapeutic compounds for targeted drug delivery.

This collaborative project, which brings together the platform technology developed at The Aptamer Group and AstraZeneca’s leadership in Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism (CVRM) therapy development and expertise in drug discovery and development, aims to use ApDCs to enable targeted delivery specifically to the kidney.

We are really excited about this collaboration with AstraZeneca. We believe that our platform technology could be transformational in the development of drug delivery vehicles. By working with AstraZeneca, we can explore the potential of these new modalities in the early-stage drug development process”.

Arron Tolley, CEO of Aptamer Group

Targeted kidney delivery of oligonucleotides has remained a challenging task for several years. Through this collaboration, we hope to make a breakthrough in kidney targeting by combining The Aptamer Group’s capabilities in aptamer research with AstraZeneca’s leadership and expertise in kidney physiology and oligonucleotide conjugation”.

Regina Fritsche Danielson, Vice President and Head of CVRM, IMED Biotech Unit, AstraZeneca