Expands Patent Protection to an Extensive Library of Novel Cell-Targeting and Cell-Penetrating Peptides
Marina Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA), a leading nucleic acid-based drug discovery and development company, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for patent application U.S. 11/955,207 with claims that cover a library of over 1x10(15) novel peptides. The patent application is part of the Company's proprietary Trp Cage Library patent portfolio. This allowance strengthens the Company's nucleic acid-peptide drug delivery platform, and further expands the Company's patent protection for its comprehensive set of nucleic acid delivery technologies, which also include DiLA2™, SMARTICLES® and the tkRNAi™ system.
"A primary advantage of this patented peptide library is the ability to rapidly screen and identify novel peptides that exhibit cell specific targeting characteristics for directed delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics," said Barry Polisky, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Marina Biotech. "Delivery remains a significant challenge in the nucleic acid therapeutic space, and peptides with high affinity and specificity are expected to be a fundamental component to developing delivery approaches to a wide spectrum of tissues and cell types. In addition, the library may also be exploited to screen for peptides that function as specific antagonists, agonists or generally exhibit drug like properties."
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