OTS Member Highlight – Dr. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus
Growing up the oldest of four children in Leiden, Netherlands, Dr. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus became fascinated with medical research and genetics as a teenager. While her father's work as a physician made her realize she didn't want to be a doctor, it did teach her that there were numerous diseases ...
Targeting the Kidney: The Promise of RNA-Based Therapeutics
When Yessenia Gutierrez was just nine years old, her kidneys failed; at 10 years old, she received her first kidney transplant. Gutierrez was born with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic condition that makes fluid-filled cysts grow on the kidney and can lead to kidney failure. Growing up, Gutierrez ...
2024 FDA Approvals: A Wave of Innovation in Treating Serious Diseases
In 2024, the Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation (CDER) approved 50 new small molecules, biologics, and oligonucleotide therapies (1). The approvals — the second largest in 30 years — include an oligonucleotide therapy for blood cancer, an antisense oligonucleotide shown to significantly drop triglyceride levels, and ...
Transporting Therapeutics: A Novel Approach to Deliver ASOs to the Brain
Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies, which bind to RNA and modify protein expression, are promising drugs for treating neurological conditions. However, their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) sometimes makes injection directly into the cerebral spinal fluid (via intrathecal injection) necessary, which is not without its risks or drawbacks ...
Oligonucleotide Treatment Advances Offer Relief for Patients with Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome
At just three weeks old, Darlene was sent to the emergency room after her mom had brought her to a pediatrician. The baby wouldn't stop crying and wasn't eating. Concerningly, her triglyceride levels were in the 20,000's, far over the normal 150 level. Darlene was referred to a lipid ...
The Man Behind the Molecules: John Maraganore’s RNAi Legacy
The 2024 OTS lifetime achievement winner, John Maraganore, is best known for his pioneering role in making RNA interference (RNAi) a successful therapeutic modality while CEO at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. However, before joining and after leaving Alnylam, he was and continues to be influential in the biotechnology sphere, with his ...
Bridge Editing: A Novel Technique for Large-Scale DNA Modifications
Link Source: Hiraizumi, M., Perry, N.T., Durrant, M.G. et al. Structural mechanism of bridge RNA-guided recombination. Nature 630, 994–1002 (2024). Gene editing has swiftly advanced since CRISPR was discovered, with CRISPR being developed not only to provide therapeutic gene editing treatments for humans but also for uses such as basic research, as ...
Near Sequence Homology Does Not Guarantee siRNA Cross-Species Efficacy
Iris Valeria Rivera Flores, Kathryn Monopoli, Samuel Jackson, Dimas Echeverria, Daniel O’Reilly, Robert H. Brown, and Anastasia Khvorova Pages:234–244Published Online:27 August 2024 https://doi.org/10.1089/nat.2024.0030
Personalized ASO Provides Improvements for a Girl with KAND, an Ultra-rare Disease
Within the world of rare diseases exist conditions so sparse and infrequent they’re called nano-rare — or N of 1 — diseases and typically affect only one to thirty people worldwide (1). While less than 10% of rare diseases have approved treatments, nano-rare or ultra-rare diseases are often entirely ...
Angelman Syndrome Therapies Show Positive Results in Early Phase Clinical Trials
A clinical trial for a drug designed to treat the rare neurodevelopmental disorder known as Angelman syndrome (AS) has achieved a favorable safety profile and lessening of overall symptoms in trial participants. In a recent press release, Ionis announced the detailed HALOS study results for the multiple ascending dose ...
OTS Member Highlight – Dr. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus
Growing up the oldest of four children in Leiden, Netherlands, Dr. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus became fascinated with medical research and genetics as a teenager. While her father's work as a ...
Targeting the Kidney: The Promise of RNA-Based Therapeutics
When Yessenia Gutierrez was just nine years old, her kidneys failed; at 10 years old, she received her first kidney transplant. Gutierrez was born with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), ...
2024 FDA Approvals: A Wave of Innovation in Treating Serious Diseases
In 2024, the Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation (CDER) approved 50 new small molecules, biologics, and oligonucleotide therapies (1). The approvals — the second largest in ...
Transporting Therapeutics: A Novel Approach to Deliver ASOs to the Brain
Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies, which bind to RNA and modify protein expression, are promising drugs for treating neurological conditions. However, their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) sometimes ...
Oligonucleotide Treatment Advances Offer Relief for Patients with Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome
At just three weeks old, Darlene was sent to the emergency room after her mom had brought her to a pediatrician. The baby wouldn't stop crying and wasn't eating. ...
The Man Behind the Molecules: John Maraganore’s RNAi Legacy
The 2024 OTS lifetime achievement winner, John Maraganore, is best known for his pioneering role in making RNA interference (RNAi) a successful therapeutic modality while CEO at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. ...
Bridge Editing: A Novel Technique for Large-Scale DNA Modifications
Link Source: Hiraizumi, M., Perry, N.T., Durrant, M.G. et al. Structural mechanism of bridge RNA-guided recombination. Nature 630, 994–1002 (2024). Gene editing has swiftly advanced since CRISPR was discovered, with CRISPR being ...
Near Sequence Homology Does Not Guarantee siRNA Cross-Species Efficacy
Iris Valeria Rivera Flores, Kathryn Monopoli, Samuel Jackson, Dimas Echeverria, Daniel O’Reilly, Robert H. Brown, and Anastasia Khvorova Pages:234–244Published Online:27 August 2024 https://doi.org/10.1089/nat.2024.0030
Personalized ASO Provides Improvements for a Girl with KAND, an Ultra-rare Disease
Within the world of rare diseases exist conditions so sparse and infrequent they’re called nano-rare — or N of 1 — diseases and typically affect only one to thirty ...
Angelman Syndrome Therapies Show Positive Results in Early Phase Clinical Trials
A clinical trial for a drug designed to treat the rare neurodevelopmental disorder known as Angelman syndrome (AS) has achieved a favorable safety profile and lessening of overall symptoms ...
