Method to deliver gene therapies is firm's latest bet.ARROWHEAD Research Corp. has inked technology deal with Caltech--time betting on a high-tech sugar molecule. The Pasadena-based company formed its Calando ca·lan·do adv. & adj. Music With a gradual decrease in volume and often tempo. Used chiefly as a direction. [Italian, present participle of calare, to slacken Pharmaceuticals subsidiary last month after licensing a Caltech-developed method of providing gene-based therapy to treat diseases. The technique involves so-called RNA interference RNA interference n. A process in which the introduction of double-stranded RNA into a cell inhibits the expression of genes. , in which altered RNA RNA: see nucleic acid. RNA in full ribonucleic acid One of the two main types of nucleic acid (the other being DNA), which functions in cellular protein synthesis in all living cells and replaces DNA as the carrier of genetic is infused into genes associated with various conditions--cancer or autoimmune diseases Autoimmune diseases A group of diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, in which immune cells turn on the body, attacking various tissues and organs. Mentioned in: Complement Deficiencies, Premature Menopause , for instance--to silence them. The licensed technology uses a modified sugar molecule to deliver the modified RNA to the genes. "A lot of companies have figured out how to turn off those genes, but they are having trouble delivering it to the fight place," said R. Bruce Stewart Bruce Stewart is a writer born in New Zealand. (1936– ), of Ngati Raukawa, Te Arawa, Stewart is a fiction writer and dramatist who has expressed the anger, confused loyalties and spiritual aspiration of late-twentieth-century Maori. , president of Arrowhead. Caltech, which is taking an equity stake in the subsidiary, has granted Arrowhead exclusive rights to 180 patents and patent applications, largely in the field of nanotechnology. Also taking equity stakes are scientific founders Mark Davis, a Caltech chemical engineer who developed the delivery technology, and John Rossi, a City of Hope molecular biologist and RNA interference researcher. Arrowhead has raised $12.5 million in two private placements research at Caltech. So far, none of the research has yielded revenues. Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237, or at ldarmiento@labusinessjournal.com. |
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