While most pharmacological agents are employed to chemically signal cells to interrupt, reduce production or bind and regulate specific disease-causing proteins, this application of Cytogenix’s novel single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) technology directs infected cells to make a short nucleic acid sequence that specifically targets and impedes the activity of a herpes virus protein needed for viral reproduction, the company said.
Cindee Ewell, CytoGenix patent counsel, said: “Grant of this patent in the US provides a major step forward in validating the use of our ssDNA expression technology in DNA-based therapeutics and should provide support for allowance of other company patent applications utilizing similar technology.”