Researchers will evaluate Nastech's RNAi-based formulations in immune cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis for the purpose of selecting a candidate for preclinical and clinical development.

Late-Breaking Presentation

Data demonstrating the successful preclinical, in vivo use of an RNAi-based therapeutic drug directed against the expression of H-TNF-alpha was the subject on Thursday of a late-breaking presentation at the 2005 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Annual Meeting in San Diego, according to Nastech.

"Applying our proprietary peptide-based delivery system, we have identified a range of therapeutic formulations that may effectively address the challenge that others have not yet been able to solve of delivering small interfering RNA (siRNA) sequences into cells," said Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO of Nastech.

"Our work with Mayo Clinic will allow us to rapidly advance our research and we look forward to providing an update on our progress in the near term," Quay added.

Halt the Production of Human Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha

The collaboration will involve the measurement of a series of inflammatory cytokines, including human tumor necrosis factor alpha (H-TNF-alpha), in serum from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

It also will encompass the screening of proprietary formulations that contain siRNA sequences together with Nastech's novel delivery excipients for H-TNF-alpha knockdown in immune cells collected from these patients, the company says.

These formulations are designed to be given systemically and to halt the production of human tumor necrosis factor alpha (H-TNF-alpha), a protein that is over-expressed in rheumatoid arthritis and that plays an important role in disease pathology.

Different Mechanism of Action

"Our research in RNAi delivery has shown promising results," said Paul H. Johnson, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer of Nastech. "The collaboration with the Mayo Clinic will allow us to rapidly screen the effectiveness of our proprietary siRNA candidates," he noted.

"While currently approved treatments for rheumatoid arthritis are designed to bind H-TNF-alpha protein or its receptor, we have demonstrated that our RNAi compound can reduce or eliminate TNF-alpha production, which is a different mechanism of action compared with any of the approved therapeutics. RNAi may thus provide a more effective treatment option," Johnson concluded.