Intradigm study shows effectiveness of RNAis in SARS

According to the company, results from the trial provide strong support for clinical investigation, clearly illustrating the prospects for siRNA therapeutics to address unmet clinical need, but also to dramatically reduce the time and cost of drug development. The company envisages this capability being especially important in the critical area of newly-emerging respiratory viral infections.

The studies in macaque monkeys included two control groups and three treatment groups, using prophylactic, concurrent or early post-exposure regimens, with a large number of animals in each group.

The numerous observations in the study, including observation of clinical SARS-like symptoms, lung histopathology and levels of viral RNA, confirm inhibition of the respiratory virus.

“The success of this study illustrates key advantages of siRNA-based therapeutic agents, including a massive reduction in discovery and development time for novel targeted therapeutics, essential for combating many emerging infectious diseases, and the coming revolution by combining siRNA sequences to allow rapid development of multi-targeted therapeutics,” commented Dr Martin Woodle, CSO of Intradigm.

The study was conducted in collaboration and co-authored by scientists from several Chinese academic and biotechnology organizations.