Kalamazoo-MI-based ProNAi Therapeutics has launched Phase I clinical trials in Texas for its anti-tumor drug candidate, PNT2258, using a drug delivery technology licensed by Marina Biotech.
"We are pleased to move PNT2258 into the clinic and to be able to gain insights into the safety and promise of this novel delivery technology," Dr. Wendi Rodrigueza, vice president of product development at ProNAi, says in a statement.
The company says this clinical trial will test the drug on patients with advanced solid tumors for which there are no standard therapies.
The drug-delivery technology it uses, called "Smarticles," involves liposomes that can cross cell membranes to deliver to the target and engage the RNA interference pathway. It can also change its surface electric charge to drop off its payload.
As we reported at the beginning of August, Marina Biotech acquired the rights to the Smarticles technology from Germany's Novosom in exchange for $5 million in common stock.
- get the ProNAi release
- read the report in the Kalamazoo Gazette