Arcturus Therapeutics and Synthetic Genomics Announce Strategic Alliance to Develop Next-Generation Vaccines and Therapeutics
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc., a leading RNA medicines company, and Synthetic Genomics, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration and worldwide license agreement to develop self-amplifying RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics in both human and animal health. The collaboration will bring together Arcturus's LUNAR™ lipid-mediated delivery platform with Synthetic Genomics' RNA replicon platform to potentially enable more efficacious and lower cost vaccines and therapeutics.
Under the collaboration, Synthetic Genomics will have exclusive access to LUNAR technology for vaccines and therapeutics, using self-amplifying RNA. Arcturus will receive an upfront cash payment, R&D support, and pre-clinical, development, and sales milestone payments, as well as royalty payments on any future sublicensed products.
"This agreement with Synthetic Genomics is in line with our corporate strategy to form strategic collaborations that leverage our proprietary technologies," said Joseph Payne, president and chief executive officer of Arcturus. "This collaboration gives us the opportunity to apply our LUNAR technology to address unmet needs in both vaccines and therapeutics."
Synthetic Genomics' RNA replicons provide the genetic instructions to the body's own cells to produce ample amounts of protein and unleash a powerful immune response. These replicons carry the RNA code for a self-replication engine as well as multiple antigens that signal for immune response. The self-amplifying RNA-based therapeutic triggers rapid and immediate antigen expression within host cells, stronger T-cell response (including when the host is already infected), and lower dose requirements compared to traditional RNA-based vaccine and therapeutic approaches.
Combining Synthetic Genomics' replicons with Arcturus' LUNAR technology may enable the replicon RNA to avoid degradation and target the tissues and cell types needed to promote a protective immune response or drive expression of therapeutic proteins. In this way, the combination of both platforms may yield preventative and therapeutic treatments for a variety of diseases.
"We have made tremendous progress in programming our replicon RNA system to develop next generation vaccines and therapeutics," said Oliver Fetzer, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Synthetic Genomics. "We are excited to collaborate with Arcturus to explore how their delivery technology can contribute to the shared goal of developing innovative RNA based medicines."
