AVI BioPharma Issued U.S. Patent Providing Key Coverage of RNA-Based Therapeutics as Antibacterial Agents
September 08 2010 - 8:00AM
Marketwired
AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based
therapeutics, announced today that the United States Patent and
Trademark Office issued AVI a patent granting key claims covering
the use of phosphorodiamidate morpholino based oligomers (PMOs) as
antibacterial agents. The patent, titled Antisense Antibacterial
Method and Compound (No. 7,790,694), contains broad claims for the
use of peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers
(PPMOs) to target the acyl carrier protein (AcpP), a gene
considered essential for bacterial growth in both gram positive and
gram negative bacteria.
"This patent represents an important addition to our
intellectual property estate and further demonstrates the
innovation and therapeutic potential of our unique RNA-based
technology in the development of a new class of anti-infective
agents," said J. David Boyle II, interim President and CEO of AVI
BioPharma. "We believe that RNA-based therapeutics employing our
advanced PMO chemistries can become an important new category of
antibacterial agents. Instead of directly targeting proteins like
most traditional antibiotics, our PMO-based compounds target key
microbial RNAs to inhibit protein expression at the gene
translation level. By leveraging our differentiated capabilities,
AVI plans to rapidly advance novel antibacterial candidates in this
increasingly important therapeutic area."
AcpP is an important component in the synthesis of fatty acids
necessary for bacterial growth. Data from several in vitro and in
vivo pre-clinical studies performed by AVI across multiple
bacterial species demonstrate the potential breadth of AVI's
antibacterial platform. AVI recently published data, accompanied by
a related editorial commentary in the Journal of Infectious
Diseases describing positive preclinical results from studies
utilizing an AVI oligomer targeting AcpP against Burkholderia
cepacia complex.
Preclinical studies performed by AVI and collaborators using its
PMO-based compounds have provided encouraging data against gram
positive and negative bacteria, which includes Burkholderia cepacia
as well as E. coli, Bacillus anthracis, Mycobacterium and
Salmonella. In in vitro studies, AVI's compounds have demonstrated
bactericidal activity against both antibiotic susceptible and
resistant bacteria, and to date have not shown cross-resistance to
other classes of antibiotics.
About AVI's Advanced Phosphorodiamidate
Morpholino Oligomer Chemistries
The core PMO-based chemistry was originally pioneered by AVI and
provides a unique and versatile platform for developing advanced
chemistries to support the development of a range of therapeutic
candidates that target different types of RNA.
Advanced generation PMO-based antisense chemistries with
potentially superior drug-like performance characteristics have
been developed by AVI and are being applied to the discovery and
development of new therapeutic candidates. AVI's advanced
chemistries include the PPMO, PMOplus™ and PMO-X, each of which
provides potential improvements to various drug-like
characteristics to therapeutic candidates, such as potency,
bioavailability, therapeutic index and tissue selectivity. AVI
continues to research additional chemistry advances to further
optimize its core proprietary technology platforms as well as to
develop further novel analogues that could provide additional
improvement to a range of beneficial characteristics, including the
above.
About AVI BioPharma
AVI BioPharma is focused on the discovery and development of
novel RNA-based therapeutics for rare and infectious diseases, as
well as other select disease targets. Applying pioneering
technologies developed and optimized by AVI, we are able to target
a broad range of diseases and disorders through distinct RNA-based
mechanisms of action. Unlike other RNA-based approaches, our
technologies can be used to directly target both messenger RNA
(mRNA) and precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) to either
down-regulate (inhibit) or up-regulate (promote) the expression of
targeted genes or proteins. By leveraging our highly differentiated
RNA antisense-based technology platform, we have built a pipeline
of potentially transformative therapeutic agents, including a
clinical stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate and
anti-infective candidates for influenza and hemorrhagic fever
viruses. For more information, visit www.avibio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements and
Information
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking,
including statements about AVI's PPMO, PMOplus™ and PMO-X
chemistries and other antisense-based technology and their
efficacy, potency and utility in the treatment of infectious
diseases, and their potential to treat a broad number of human
diseases. These forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond AVI's control, including
that preclinical and clinical trials may not demonstrate safety and
efficacy of any of our drug candidates and/or our antisense-based
technology platform, and any of our drug candidates may fail in
development, may not receive required regulatory approvals, or be
delayed to a point where they do not become commercially viable.
Further, the results described in this press release are not
predictive of future outcomes and may not be repeated in later
preclinical and clinical trials.
Avi Biopharma (NASDAQ:AVII)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Avi Biopharma (NASDAQ:AVII)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024