The collaboration paves the way for increased precision in cancer treatment.
A collaboration between SRI and N4 Pharma has broken new ground in cancer research, effectively targeting lung cancer cells with therapeutic RNA (siRNA) using N4’s Nuvec® gene delivery system.
The announcement is the culmination of a collaboration between SRI and N4 Pharma that began in 2024, when Nuvec and SRI agreed to conjugate SRI’s proprietary FOX Three Molecular Guidance System™ (MGS) with Nuvec in order to increase intracellular delivery to specific cells.
“In the near future, treatments for common cancers may be delivered as simple oral tablets with far fewer side effects than chemotherapy.”
Experimental results based on this collaboration, N4 Pharma announced, demonstrated success in delivering therapeutic siRNA payloads to non-small cell lung cancer cells. Specifically, Nuvec particles “were functionalized with a targeting molecule binding to a cell surface adhesion molecule (αvβ6) — a protein found at high levels in epithelial cancers such as lung, breast, prostate, and pancreatic adenocarcinomas.” Nuvec particles were only detected in targeted cells, indicating that Nuvec-based therapies can indeed be precisely directed at specific cell types.
The implications of this finding are profound for researchers, clinicians, and patients alike.
“In the near future,” noted N4 Pharma in the press release announcing the findings, “treatments for common cancers may be delivered as simple oral tablets with far fewer side effects than chemotherapy.”
To learn more about SRI’s FOX Three platform and other precision medicine innovations, visit our Biosciences Division.
