Bioo Scientific, a US biotechnology company, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for the development of targeted in-vivo RNA interference (RNAi) delivery technology.
The company received a USD500,000 (GBP305,000) small-business innovation research (SBIR) Phase II grant for the development.
RNAi is a technique to characterise gene function and is being evaluated for the treatment of numerous human diseases.
Lance Ford, Bioo Scientific's vice-president of research and business development, said: 'While technologies are widely available for RNAi agent delivery into cells grown on plastic dishes in specially designed incubators, to fully understand gene functions and cellular pathways in-vitro results must be validated in animals.
'Currently, there are no commercial technologies for the targeted in-vivo delivery of RNAi agents and Bioo Scientific intends to fill this gap,' he added.
This grant will enable the company to develop kits and reagents based on the patent-pending Targeted Transport Technology (T3).
T3 involves conjugating an RNAi agent carrier to a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to produce a conjugate, which is then loaded with an RNAi agent such as siRNA and miRNA molecules.
The RNAi-agent-loaded conjugate is administered to an animal where it binds to and is internalised by cells recognised by the mAb.
The RNAi agent is then released to reduce the expression of its intended target.
