Egen’s TheraSilence delivery technology is being coupled with Surmodics’ Eureka Duet platform.

SurModics and Egen decided to prolong their collaboration focused on long-term controlled release of siRNA complexes. Egen’s TheraSilence™ is being tested for sustained delivery of therapeutic siRNAs developed on SurModics’ Eureka™ Duet platform.

Optimization of the combination of these technologies is ongoing. The next step would be to evaluate the resulting siRNA drug candidates in relevant animal models.

Earlier this year the companies said that they had achieved more than 100 days of sustained release of siRNA nanocomplexes in vitro. A high degree of gene knockdown was reportedly maintained with little indication of degradation of the released complexes. The kinetics of siRNA nanocomplex release can be modulated by alterations in formulation, providing a broad range of extended release systems, the firms explain.

SurModics’ has developed the Eureka Duet family of naturally degradable polysaccharides for the delivery of therapeutic proteins. These polymers can be fabricated into preformed implant geometries such as filaments, coils, and foams or they can be used to prepare matrices and scaffolds in situ. 

The Eureka Duet system features enzyme-mediated, surface-based degradation, aqueous processing with no harsh solvents, compatibility with protein molecules ranging in size from 30 kDa through 150 kDa, naturally stabilizing environment with functional protein maintained in Eureka implants for up to six months in vivo, and tunable elution profiles with sustained release of functional protein demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, according to the company.

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