Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc., engaged in the development of vaccines for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases, today announced that its next-generation surface skin electroporation technology was successfully used to significantly enhance the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules to skin in animal studies. While the company has several ongoing human trials demonstrating the efficacy of its electroporation technology, this study marks the first time that this technology has been applied to the delivery of siRNA molecules.
Both preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated electroporation as an effective physical delivery method with the capability to improve the expression and immunogenicity of DNA vaccines by up to 100-fold.
Inovio said the positive outcome of this study emphasizes the “far-reaching therapeutic potential” for the company’s electroporation technology.
“Perhaps the biggest hurdle in realizing the full potential of RNA-based therapies is the lack of proper and efficient delivery of siRNA molecules. This study supports the idea that Inovio’s proprietary electroporation technology can successfully deliver breakthrough RNA therapies with the same efficacy and safety in which we deliver DNA therapies,” Dr. J. Joseph Kim, president and CEO of Inovio, stated in the press release. “Most important, our delivery platform could pave the way for the development of targeted RNA-based therapies for diseases and conditions that are now considered untreatable.”
Inovio noted that in recent studies, siRNAs have demonstrated potential as novel therapeutics due to their ability to induce robust, sequence specific gene silencing in cells. The method of utilizing siRNA to induce RNA interference (RNAi) has potential as a therapeutic approach to treat many currently untreatable disorders, such as some cancers and many viral and genetic diseases.
Data from today’s announced study was published in the journal Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids in a paper titled, “Optimized in vivo transfer of small interfering RNA targeting dermal tissue using in vivo surface electroporation.”
For more information visit www.inovio.com
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