Israeli company Quiet Therapeutics has captured funding of $5.5 million to develop its nanoparticle-based delivery system for RNAi and small-molecule drugs for cancer and inflammation. The backers include the Israeli venture capital company Pontifax, which founded Quiet as part of a collaboration with Roche Holding ($RHHBY) and the Ashkelon Incubator.
Quiet Therapeutics focuses on drug delivery using nanoparticles known as gagomers. These wrap lipid particles in hyaluronic acid, a glycosaminoglycan (GAG) that naturally targets cancer and inflammation. The first $300,000 of the money will be used to carry out a feasibility study. The rest of the money will be released in tranches if the results of the study are positive.
Roche retains the rights to one of Quiet's products, according to Globes, and describes Quiet as "one of the two best companies to emerge from the collaboration to date."
And in another nanoscale story, Finnish scientists at Aalto University have combined virus particles, proteins and crystalline materials into superlattices. These nanoparticles, which combine biological and inorganic substances, could have potential in drug delivery.
- check out the article in Globes
- see the article on superlattices