Versadel therapy
 Ablitech's Versadel therapy is a platform technology for treatment of a variety of diseases such as cancer, HIV, and other diseases resulting from genetic abnormalities. Initial development of this technology is focused on a pancreatic and bladder cancer therapy which overcomes the inherent shortcomings of other attempts to deliver antisense to cancer cells.
This technology provides efficient targeted delivery of antisense by specifically tailoring the polymer composition and structure to protect antisense from degradation by enzymes in the body and selectively release it inside of the cancer cells.
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Competitive Advantages of Versadel:
- No leakage – each strand individually protected
- Non-toxic polymer delivery (not viral)
- Minimum 36 hours of protection in serum
- Fully restores unmodified, active oligonucleotide inside the cell
- Targets cancer cells and does not damage healthy cells
- Very small final size for delivery
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Viral Delivery
Viral DNA is removed and target oligonucleotide is inserted.
Pros:
- Established viral entry into cells
- Small particle size for delivery
Cons:
- Allergic reactions to virus (can be severe)
- Complicated process to remove native viral DNA and insert desired oligo
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Viral Delivery
Lipids (or polymers) form hollow structures that are loaded with the oligonucleotides
Pros:
- Already exist in the body (liposomes)
- Can be loaded with hundreds of oligo chains
Cons:
- “leaky” – begin losing oligo once in the body
- most travel by default to the liver – not to other targeted tissues
- No control over how many oligos are delivered to each cell
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Charged Polymer
Positively charged polymers are complexed with the oligonucleotides.
Pros:
- Easy to form complex (just mix together)
Cons:
- “Sticky” in the blood stream – tends to stick to proteins and other blood components
- No defined release mechanism
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Oligonucleotide modification
The backbone of the oligo is changed to make it more resistant to enzymes and easier to deliver
Pros:
- May not need a delivery system
- Oligo has longer lifetime in blood stream
Cons:
- Much less potent once modified
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