Mirus Bio Awarded Broad European Patent Covering Intravascular Injection Method

MADISON, Wis., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ — Mirus Bio Corporation announced today the grant of European Patent EP1246649 entitled “Intravascular Delivery of Nucleic Acid.” The patent broadly covers Pathway IV(TM), a novel method to efficiently deliver therapeutic genes to muscle and other tissues via the blood stream. This versatile platform can be used to deliver a wide range of nucleic acids, including plasmid DNA (pDNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA), and viral vectors.


The Pathway IV delivery technique is elegant in its simplicity and is practical for clinical applications. With blood flow in an arm or leg temporarily occluded by a tourniquet, a pDNA-saline solution is rapidly injected intravenously. This elevates the pressure within the occlusion zone, transiently making the blood vessel wall more permeable and allowing the pDNA to migrate into the adjoining muscle cells. Blood flow is then restored to normal within a few minutes, with no adverse affects to the vasculature. Once the nucleic acids are inside muscle cells, those cells naturally produce the encoded therapeutic agent. Mirus Bio is applying this powerful tool to such diseases as muscular dystrophy, peripheral vascular disease and ALS.


“This broad patent on our groundbreaking technology is the first we have received outside of the United States, and complements the strong portfolio of coverage we already have domestically,” commented Russell Smestad, Mirus Bio’s President. “The lack of safe, clinically effective delivery methods has to date been a primary impediment to the development of therapies in both the gene therapy and RNA interference fields. Investigators are increasingly recognizing the versatility of our intravascular delivery method and its ability to be scaled from research to clinical applications. Given the wide range of potential applications, Mirus Bio is actively seeking strategic alliances to expand its product pipeline.”


About Mirus Bio Corporation:


Mirus Bio Corporation is a leader in the emerging fields of gene therapy and RNA interference, based upon its expertise in nucleic acid chemistry and delivery. The company currently markets state-of-the-art DNA and siRNA transfection and labeling products to researchers worldwide. In addition, the company is developing novel human therapeutics enabled by its proprietary Pathway IV(TM) delivery platform. The company’s lead therapeutic is a treatment for Muscular Dystrophy, which is being developed collaboratively with Transgene S.A. of Strasbourg, France.


For more information go to: http://www.mirusbio.com/ .