- Defence Therapeutics (DTC) has announced that its Accum platform can potently enhance Cas9 delivery in target cells
- CRISPR is a technology that can be used to edit genes
- Tests using Accum revealed a significantly higher accumulation of Cas9 proteins in target cells
- Defence will actively be looking to partner with major players in the field in order to move forward on CRISPR-based treatments
- The core of Defence Therapeutics platform is the ACCUM technology, which enables precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to target cells
- Defence Therapeutics Inc. (DTC) opened trading at C$5.40 per share
Defence Therapeutics (DTC) has announced that its Accum platform can potently enhance Cas9 delivery in target cells, positively impacting the CRISPR industry.
CRISPR technology enables both the treatment or prevention of many illnesses by deleting or inserting genes in a targeted manner. This technology can be used to treat multiple illnesses such as cancer, viral diseases (HIV and Hepatitis B) as well as several genetic disorders.
The essence of this technology is simple and requires two important tools:
- a piece of genetic material to guide the editing process, and
- the co-delivery of a Cas protein to cut/edit the DNA
Of all the Cas proteins currently identified, Cas9 is the most widely used by scientists as it can easily find and bind to almost any desired target sequence, simply by giving a piece of RNA to guide it in its search.
Delivery of the Cas9 protein instead of a DNA-encoding sequence decreases the off-target activity of Cas9. Protein delivery tools available today are inefficient at delivering proteins inside the nucleus of target cells.
The Accum platform is designed to accumulate a given molecule in target cells. The Defence team has tested Accum’s ability to improve Cas9 delivery to cells. The obtained results, with only a single Accum dose and without any added use of a complex lipid formulation, are astonishing. The accumulation of Accum-linked Cas9 inside the nucleus of the cells was at least 9-fold higher when added to mammalian cells in vitro.
Mr. Plouffe, CEO of Defence Therapeutics commented on the exciting news.
“We successfully provide another strong example of how versatile and powerful Accum is for delivering proteins of crucial importance. This observation is paving the path to strategic partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies in the field looking to improve their CRISPR/Cas9 editing approach.”
Defence will actively be looking to partner with major players in the field in order to move forward on CRISPR-based treatments designed for specific indications.
The global gene editing market is expected to grow from US$4.2 billion in 2020 to US$13 billion by 2028.
Defence Therapeutics is a biotechnology company working on engineering the next-generation vaccines and ADC products using its proprietary platform. The core of Defence Therapeutics’ platform is the ACCUM technology, which enables precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to target cells.
Defence Therapeutics Inc. (DTC) opened trading at C$5.40 per share.
