Circio Holding ASA, a biotechnology company developing novel circular RNA expression technology for gene and cell therapy, and The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), are to collaborate in the field of infectious diseases.
The capacity of the circVec technology to support protein expression in vivo for several months following a single injection will be utilized to establish long-term passive protection against dangerous viral pathogens in vulnerable human populations.
“Our unique circVec technology modifies the core biological process of information flow from DNA to protein via highly stable circular RNA. Circio´s internal focus is centred on gene and cell therapy; however, the technology has a broad set of potential applications,” said Victor Levitsky, CSO of Circio.
“This collaboration will allow us to tap into the deep expertise and know-how at UTMB to design and test novel circVec candidates against dangerous viral pathogens.”
“There is growing interest in passive protection against viral infections that may cause new epidemics or pandemics associated with a high rate of severe disease and mortality,” said Alexander Bukreyev, distinguished professor of Virology and Vaccinology and head of Laboratory Viral Pathogenesis and Vaccine Development at UTMB.
“We are therefore very interested in collaborating with Circio on jointly developing and testing Circio´s circular RNA expression technology as a novel approach to addressing this urgent and important medical need. This collaboration will be an excellent start toward establishing the Center for Nucleic Acid Technologies at UTMB, with potential applications in cancer and gene therapy.”
Circio will design and technically validate novel circVec expression vectors for infectious disease. UTMB will be responsible for analysing the activity of these circVec vectors against selected viruses both in vitro and in vivo.
“This collaboration is an important component of our strategic commitment to develop and strengthen our infectious disease, gene and cell therapy programs at UTMB,” said Antonio Bianco, senior vice president of Health Affairs, dean of the John Sealy School of Medicine and chief research officer at UTMB.
“We strongly believe that the circular RNA expression approach has significant potential to boost current prevention and treatment strategies for infectious diseases and beyond.”