Base Pair Biotechnologies, “The Aptamer Discovery Company™” has been recently awarded a grant from NIH entitled, “Aptamer engineering of lentiviral vectors for cardiac gene therapies”.
HOUSTON, Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the leading cause of sudden death in young individuals. HCM is also the most prevalent genetic cardiomyopathy affecting Americans (1/200 adults) with no current treatments. Gene therapy approaches that drive the overexpression of the correct genes can be used to remodel the heart tissue and restore function. However, no gene therapies have been developed for in vivo targeting of the heart to date. A key bottleneck in the field is the (in)ability to engineer advanced viral vectors with prescribed tropism in the patient’s body.
Aptamers are short, single-stranded snippets of DNA or RNA that have been selected to bind other molecules in lieu of antibodies. Aptamers have been utilized in many assay formats and as therapeutics, but there is no commercial example of an aptamer being utilized as a delivery vehicle.
In partnership with a cutting-edge start-up that currently remains in “stealth mode”, Base Pair will discover and deploy novel aptamers to help guide viral vectors specifically to the heart.
Upon notice of the grant award from NIH, Dr. Bill Jackson, CEO of Base Pair said, “This is a remarkable opportunity for aptamer technology that very few have even considered. Partnering with experts that understand the challenges associated with delivering gene therapies, specifically to cardiac tissues represents a powerful pairing of technologies.”
For more information or for investor information, please direct all inquiries to [email protected]
About Base Pair:
Founded in 2012, Base Pair Biotechnologies, Inc. is the leading and most experienced custom aptamer development company. Our team of scientists has a combined 50+ person-years of experience in developing aptamers for various targets. In addition to this expertise, Base Pair owns the sole worldwide rights to patents for multiplexed aptamer discovery. More specifically, we have the capability to select aptamers to up to 1000’s of protein, peptide, or small molecule targets in true competitive, multiplexed fashion. The resulting aptamers are therefore more specific for their particular targets. Using this technology, we have completed contracts from the National Cancer Institute, for example, to generate aptamers to 75 cancer biomarker proteins. We routinely work with the largest pharma and biotechnology companies in the world on novel aptamer discovery projects as well as with numerous renowned universities and research institutions to deliver rapid solutions to complex problems.
Media Contact
Bill Jackson, Ph.D., Base Pair Biotechnologies, 1 832305518, [email protected], www.basepairbio.com
SOURCE Base Pair Biotechnologies
