Oligonucleotide Delivery: Biology, Engineering and Development Conference

Oligonucleotide technologies, such as siRNA, tap into endogenous, highly conserved and specific catalytic mechanisms to efficiently regulate gene expression. As such, they have the potential to enable the development of novel therapeutic options for disease targets previously considered un-druggable by conventional small molecule and biologics means. However, despite the promise, clinical development has been hindered by the challenges encountered by identifying and developing safe and efficacious delivery formulations.

Since its discovery in 1998, RNA silencing has attracted much attention, with over 50,000 peer-reviewed publications, multiple national and international conferences, and significant investment in the biotech and large pharma with the goal of developing new siRNA-based therapies. Despite the interest and investment this has proven to be more difficult that first envisioned. It is widely recognized that there are gaps in our basic understanding on how to best harness this technology for therapeutic use.

The major topics to be discussed are:

Liposomes, nanosomes, polymeric and nano-particulate delivery vehicles

RNA chemical modifications and conjugates to enable delivery

Protein transduction domain as delivery platforms

Mechanisms of cellular uptake and endosomal escape

Biophysical characterization methods

siRNA delivery vehicle toxicology

Local and systemic siRNA delivery case studies

Confirmed Speakers

Achim Aigner, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany

Saghir Akhtar, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Eben Alsberg, Case Western Reserve University, USA

Dan Anderson, MIT, USA

Tomohiro Asai, University of Shizuoka, Japan

Himanshu Brahmbhatt, EnGeneIC Ltd, Australia

Bob Brown, Dicerna, USA

Kenneth Clark, GlaxoSmithKline, UK

Pieter Cullis, University of British Columbia, Canada

Mark E. Davis, California Institute of Technology, USA

Derek M. Dykxhoorm, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, USA

Xavier de Mollerat Du Jeu, Life Technologies, USA

Omid Farokhzad, Harvard Medical School, USA

Elena Feinstein, Quark Pharma, Israel / USA

Mauro Ferrari, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, USA

Mercedes González-Juarrero, Colorado State University, USA

Tatsuhiro Ishida, The University of Tokushima, Japan

Rudy Juliano, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA

Jan Kamps, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Kazunori Kataoka, University of Tokyo, Japan

Jørgen Kjems, Århus University, Denmark

Troels Koch, Santaris Pharma A/S, Denmark / USA

Ülo Langel, Stockholm University, Sweden

Gabriel López-Berestein, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

Zheng-Rong Lu, Case Western Reserve University, USA

Jennifer MacDiarmid, EnGeneIC Ltd, Australia

Ram I. Mahato, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, USA

Muthiah Manoharan, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, USA

Nigel A.J. McMillan, Diamantina Institute, University of Queensland, Australia X

in Ming, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA

Tamara Minko, Rutgers University, USA

Andrés Montefeltro, nLife Therapeutics, Spain

Sterghios Moschos, University of Westminster, UK

Deborah Palliser, Albert Einstein School of Medicine, USA

Dan Peer, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Jean Phillipe Pellois, Texas A&M University, USA

Blake Peterson, The University of Kansas, USA

Tariq M. Rana, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, USA

Steven L. Regen, Lehigh University, USA

John Rossi, City of Hope, Duarte, USA

Dmitry Samarsky, RiboBio, China

Ansgar Santel, Silence Therapeutics AG, Germany

Alan D. Schreiber, ZaBeCor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., USA

Sabine Schreidler, Sanofi-Aventis, Germany

Georg Sczakiel, University of Lübeck, Germany

Peter H. Seeberger, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Berlin, Germany

Rita Serda, Methodist Hospital Research Institute, USA

Mouldy Sioud, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Norway

Anil Sood, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

Janos Szebeni, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

C. Shad Thaxton, Northwestern University, USA

Ernst Wagner, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munchen, Germany

Roberto Weinmann, Sylentis, Spain

Johannes Winkler, University of Vienna, Austria

You-Yeon Won, Purdue University, USA

Matthew Wood, Oxford University, UK

Miqin Zhang, University of Washington, USA

Provided by Engineering Conferences International