Date: Dec 19, 2012 Source: PR Newswire (
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GAITHERSBURG, Md., Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sirnaomics, Inc. (www.sirnaomics.com) announced today that the company has made a major breakthrough in its novel small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutic product against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer which was presented by Dr. Alan Lu, Executive Vice President of Sirnaomics, in the 28th International Papillomavirus Conference held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from Nov 30th to Dec 6th, 2012. Dr. Lu's presentation received the Mary M. Pater Memorial Award, which commemorates the late Dr. Mary M. Pater (1937-1994) for her lifetime combat on tumor viruses, by the Conference Organizing Committee.
Sirnaomics is a leading biopharmaceutical company in the discovery and development of siRNA therapeutics. The company's mission is to advance siRNA therapeutics by using its proprietary multi-targeted siRNA design and screening together with nanoparticle-mediated siRNA delivery vehicles. Through in-house efforts and collaborations, Sirnaomics has developed nanoparticle-based siRNA delivery systems in three generations: the self-assembled nanoparticles (1st), the ligand-directed nanoparticles (2nd) and the infrared-activated nanoparticles (3rd), for various types of therapeutic applications. Based on these two technology platforms, Sirnaomics has developed an enriched pipeline of siRNA therapeutic product candidates, including STP705 for improvement of skin wound healing with minimized scar formation, STP601 for treatment of ocular AMD/diabetic retinopathy, STP702 for treatment of respiratory influenza viral infection, STP909 for treatment of HPV infection/cervical cancer, and candidates for several other therapeutic indications.
During the presentation entitled "Dual-targeting siRNA Therapeutics for Treatment of HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer", Dr. Lu reported that two siRNA duplexes targeting both HPV16 and HPV18, the two major cancerous strains, were formulated with a histidine-lysine co-polymer into nanoparticles. Using a rabbit skin papilloma model challenged by a chimeric human-rabbit papillomavirus, a topical delivered siRNA treatment was able to abolish the papillomavirus growth due to the silence of a viral protein expression. This innovative therapeutic program was the result of a collaborative effort between Sirnaomics and Professor Neil Christensen's lab at the Penn State University College of Medicine.
"The progress of this novel siRNA therapeutic candidate (STP909) being recognized by the HPV research and clinical communities demonstrates the scientific merit of Sirnaomics in discovery and development of the unique siRNA therapeutics for unmet clinical needs," said Dr. Patrick Y. Lu, President and CEO of the company. "The collaboration between scientists from Sirnaomics and Penn State University College of Medicine provided a solid foundation for this significant breakthrough," Dr. Lu further emphasized.
