Access Pharmaceuticals is collaborating with a pharmaceutical company to use its CobaCyte and CobOral technology to deliver RNAi therapeutics.
Access will offer CobOral and CobaCyte siRNA platforms to analyze genetic breakdown after the patient has been administered oral and intravenous therapies. Access has declared that any platforms developed will belong to both the companies depending on licensing agreements entered into later.
Jeffrey B. Davis, president and chief executive officer, Access Pharmaceuticals, said that the two technologies will help offer inactivated siRNA particles to specific disease sites.
Nano-particles of RNA, specifically siRNA or miRNA, are injected into the diseases cells in order to start the RNAi. The RNA particles are large and conduct negative charge making it impossible for them to traverse cell membranes. This made it essential to develop a system that would help carry the siRNA into target cells, and inject the undamaged siRNA into the diseased cell cytoplasm.
The two technologies are ideally suited for this purpose as they are based on vitamin B12. Almost all human cells need vitamin B12 delivered by the cell surface receptors. The receptors help the cells absorb this vitamin. Many diseases need more of this vitamin with a matching receptor upregulation. The CobaCyte nano-technology can deploy the vitamin B12 imbibing mechanism to deliver siRNA into cells. This makes it possible to incorporate native siRNA into the messenger RNA (mRNA) to commence the curative effect. This CobaCyte offers targeted delivery of siRNA after intravenous administration. The technology also allows for oral administration of the vitamin through the CobOral platform. This could also help provide siRNA orally.
Source: http://www.accesspharma.com