Progenity and Ionis Pharmaceuticals Enter into Agreement for Oral Delivery of Antisense Therapies

Progenity and Ionis Pharmaceuticals Enter into Agreement for Oral Delivery of Antisense Therapies

Rare Daily Staff

Progenity said it entered an agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals to evaluate Progenity’s Oral Biotherapeutics Delivery System for oral systemic delivery of Ionis’ antisense oligonucleotides.

Ionis’ novel antisense therapies are designed to target mRNA in a highly specific manner and either decrease disease-causing proteins or increase the production of a needed protein.

The Oral Biotherapeutics Delivery System (ODBS) is an ingestible capsule based on a needle-free technology designed by Progenity to enable delivery of a drug formulated in a solution directly into the tissues of the small intestine, where it can be absorbed systemically.

“We believe the OBDS platform shows promise to transform the systemic delivery of diverse biotherapeutics via oral administration,” said Harry Stylli, CEO, chairman, and co-founder of Progenity. “Our primary focus has been the oral delivery of monoclonals, proteins, and peptides, and now we are potentially able to expand into nucleic acid-based therapeutics.”

During the first phase of the study, Progenity and Ionis will evaluate the OBDS in conjunction with Ionis’ drug for in vitro compatibility and performance as well as in vivo safety, tolerability and performance in a preclinical canine model.

Photo: Harry Stylli, CEO, chairman, and co-founder of Progenity