AVI BioPharma to Present at the American Society of Gene Therapy Meeting
May 29 2008 - 1:23PM
Marketwired
PORTLAND, OR today announced that a number of oral
presentations, as well as posters, utilizing AVI technology will be
presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the American Society of
Gene Therapy, which runs from May 29 to June 1, 2008 in Boston.
Amongst the authors of the presentations are Patrick Iversen,
Ph.D., Ryszard Kole, Ph.D., Peter Sazani, Ph.D. and Hong Moulton,
Ph.D. Most of the presentations will highlight AVI's work with
alternative RNA splicing for treatment of Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy (DMD).
Included will be a presentation at Friday's plenary session,
regarding AVI's NeuGene� drugs, titled, "Body-Wide Restoration of
Dystrophin Expression and Amelioration of Pathology in Dystrophic
Dogs Using a Morpholino Cocktail," by Drs. Yokota, Lu, Partridge,
Kobayashi, Nadamura, Takeda and Hoffman.
Leading one session, to be presented by our collaborators, will
be another presentation: "A Morpholino-Cell-Penetrating Peptide
Conjugate Caused Effective Exon-Skipping in Heart and Skeletal
Muscles of MDX Mice," by Drs. Jearawiriyapaisarn, Moulton, Buckley,
Roberts, Sazani, Fucharoen, Iversen and Kole. This talk will
highlight the key finding that AVI's peptide conjugated NeuGene
drugs, also termed PPMO, induces body-wide production of
dystrophin, including skeletal muscles, diaphragm and heart. These
data underscore the potential for NeuGene compounds to address
cardiac and pulmonary complications associated with DMD.
Other presentations include:
"Targeted Restoration of Dystrophin Expression in DMD by
Peptide-Conjugated Antisense Oligonucleotides," by Drs. Yin, Scow,
Moulton, Iversen, Boutilier, and Wood.
"Full Rescue of Dystrophin Expression in Cardiac, Smooth and
Skeletal Muscles by Antisense Oligonucleotide-Induced Exon
Skipping," by Drs. Lu, Lu and Wu.
"Restoration of Dystrophin Expression in Skeletal and Cardiac
Muscles by Systemic Delivery of MorpholinoE23-Vivo Porter
Oligonucleotide," by Drs. Wu, Li, Morcos, Doran, Lu and Lu.
About Alternative RNA Splicing Technology
In normal genetic function, gene transcription produces a
full-length pre-RNA that is then processed to a much shorter and
functional messenger RNA. The mRNA is the template for creating a
protein. During pre-RNA processing, packets of useful genetic
information, called exons, are snipped out of the full-length RNA
and spliced together to make the functional mRNA template. AVI's
proprietary third-generation NeuGene chemistry can be used to
target splice-joining sites in the pre-RNA, thus forcing the cell
machinery to skip over targeted exons, providing altered mRNA,
which in turn produces altered proteins. In some diseases, such as
DMD, skipping an exon can restore a proper RNA reading frame and
restore at least partial function of the protein to overcome the
devastating clinical consequences of the mutation.
About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
DMD is the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children
around the world. It is a devastating and incurable muscle-wasting
disease associated with specific inborn errors in the gene that
expresses dystrophin, a protein that is an essential component for
striated muscle function. When dystrophin is missing or
nonfunctional due to a mutation in coding of the dystrophin gene,
as it is in DMD, the result is membrane leakage and fiber damage,
ultimately leading to degeneration and death of the muscle fiber.
There is no cure or effective treatment for DMD. Approximately one
in 3,500 boys is born with DMD, and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000
children are afflicted in the United States alone.
About AVI BioPharma
AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of
life-threatening diseases using third-generation NeuGene� antisense
drugs and alternative RNA splicing technology. AVI's alternative
RNA splicing technology is initially being applied to potential
treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. AVI's NeuGene compounds
are also designed to treat cardiovascular restenosis in stent and
coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures. In addition to
targeting specific genes in the body, AVI's antiviral program uses
NeuGene antisense compounds to combat disease by targeting
single-stranded RNA viruses, including Marburg Musoke and Ebola
Zaire viruses. More information about AVI is available at
www.avibio.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: The statements that are not historical facts
contained in this release are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the
results of research and development efforts, the results of
preclinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the
FDA and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product
development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and
other risks detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange
Commission filings.
The information contained in this press release does not
necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government
and no official endorsement should be inferred.
AVI Press and Investor Contact: Michael Hubbard Email Contact
Director of Corporate Communications (503) 227-0554
Avi Biopharma (NASDAQ:AVII)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Avi Biopharma (NASDAQ:AVII)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024