Influenza infects approximately 5-15% of the world’s population in a typical year, resulting in 250,000 to 500,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Additional grants for program funding are still pending.
RNA works by turning off the production of a protein so that the spread of the influenza infection is prevented or slowed.
Nastech is developing siRNA therapeutics that specifically target the influenza viral genome. This technology has been developed on intellectual property at Galenea Corp, obtained in February 2006. The company believes that targeting this genome could enable a siRNA therapeutic to be effective against both current and future strains of the influenza virus. The research also aims to test the effectiveness of the drug’s resistance to the virus.