Lead Candidate Science
Ovensa’s lead candidate (TRIOZAN™/siRNA Gal-1) is a siRNA nanotherapeutic silencing the overexpression of galectin-1 protein (coded by the gene LGALS1) in the Tumor Microenvironment (TME). Its overexpression is playing major roles in many cancers by modulating different processes leading to metastasis, recurrence, enhanced cancer stem cell properties, resistance towards treatments, and bad tumor prognosis. In the TME, Gal-1 upregulation in response to various factors (e.g. hypoxia, radiation) potentially benefits the tumor growth and reinforces the tumor progression by the modulation of cell motility, transformation of the tumor endothelium into an immune-suppressive barrier, induction of radioresistance and apoptosis of activated T cells, mediation of cell adhesion, and participation in tumor angiogenesis.
TRIOZAN™ Platform
The TRIOZAN™ Platform leverages the polymeric chemistry science around Ovensa’s patented core polymer (N,N,N-Trimethyl Chitosan) to develop various precision and combination therapeutics to overcome performance and resistance challenges associated with various types of innovative drugs including RNA, mAb, and peptide based molecules. This is achieved via “TRIOZylation” which is a R&D non lipidic and non viral nanoproduct engineering development approach.
Nanoconjugates or nanoparticles could be engineered by using any combination of other type of material depending on the therapeutic objectives. The platform exploits various attributes associated with the TRIOZAN™ core polymer.