SYDNEY, Sept. 23, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- Benitec Biopharma (ASX: BLT; NASDAQ: BNTCW, NASDAQ:
BNTC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative
therapeutics based on its gene silencing technology, DNA-directed
RNA interference (ddRNAi), today announced that Peter French, Ph.D., the Company's CEO and
Managing Director, was invited to discuss Benitec's ddRNAi
technology at The Cambridge Healthtech Institute's (CHI)
13th Annual Discovery on Target Conference in
Boston, MA.
Dr. French chaired part of the Gene Therapy Breakthroughs
session titled, "Combining Gene Silencing/Editing and Gene
Therapy," where he discussed Benitec's core ddRNAi approach,
which combines the specificity of gene therapy vectors with the
power of RNA interference to produce novel 'single shot' therapies
for serious life threatening diseases. The other speakers in
this session included professionals from leading medical and
academic institutions.
Benitec was also featured during the Conference's symposium on
Strategies for Rare Diseases; Update on Scientific Breakthroughs
and Novel Approaches, where Dr. French provided an overview of
the Company's novel gene silencing and replacement program for
treating Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy (OPMD). OPMD is a
late-onset degenerative muscle disorder caused by a mutation in the
PABPN1 gene. It is an orphan disease with an estimated prevalence
of one in 100,000 people (Europe).
Dr. French described Benitec's approach to treating OPMD,
which uses ddRNAi technology to simultaneously silence the mutant
PABPN1 gene and insert a normal copy of the gene. Benitec has
achieved in vivo proof of concept and is planning to advance
this program to human clinical studies.
Dr. French stated, "We appreciate the opportunity to highlight
our achievements in this field and thank CHI and the organizers of
this conference for inviting us to participate and lead this
important discussion. As we continue to validate our approach
by advancing our lead clinical program, TT-034 for treating
hepatitis C, we are proud to be a part of the ongoing scientific
dialogue that will help drive further innovation in gene
therapy."
More information on CHI's Discovery conference can be found at
www.discoveryontarget.com.
About Benitec Biopharma Limited
Benitec Biopharma
Limited (ASX: BLT; NASDAQ: BNTCW, NASDAQ: BNTC) is a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing innovative therapeutics based on
its patented gene-silencing technology called ddRNAi or 'expressed
RNAi'. Based in Sydney, Australia
with labs in Hayward, CA (USA) and
collaborators and licensees around the world, the company is
developing ddRNAi-based therapeutics for chronic and
life-threatening human conditions including hepatitis C and B, wet
age-related macular degeneration and OPMD. Benitec has also
licensed ddRNAi to other biopharmaceutical companies for
applications including HIV/AIDS, Huntington's Disease, chronic neuropathic pain
and retinitis pigmentosa. For further information regarding Benitec
and its activities, please contact the persons below, or visit the
Benitec website at www.benitec.com.
Contacts:
Company
|
Investor
relations
|
United
States
|
Carl Stubbings
Chief Business Officer
Tel: +61 (2) 9555 6986
Email: cstubbings@benitec.com
|
Kyahn Williamson
Buchan Consulting
Tel: +61 (2) 9237 2807
Email: kwilliamson@buchanwe.com.au
|
Tiberend Strategic
Advisors, Inc.
Joshua Drumm, Ph.D.
(Investors)
Tel: +1
212-375-2664
Email:
jdrumm@tiberend.com
Andrew Mielach
(Media)
Tel: +1
212-375-2694
Email:
amielach@tiberend.com
|
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SOURCE Benitec Biopharma Limited