Oligonucleotides for Medical Applications

ongoing

The use of synthetic oligonucleotides (ONs, short DNA or RNA strands) in the treatment of genetic diseases is a rapidly growing field, and the most promising alternative to gene therapy or small molecules. Most pharmaceutical companies shift from in-house platform development to product-specific licensing and co-development to get ON based therapies past clinical trials. Therefore there is a growing and currently unmet need for a combined academic and industry-based multidisciplinary research to further advance the field by bringing together the separated and fragmented R&D efforts of diverse ON technologies. OLIGOMED will address these needs by: - uniting world-class academic and private sector expertise in ON chemistry, bio-analysis and medical applications - developing a next generation ON platform technology based on combining tailored synthetic ONs with smart delivery - optimising ON therapies through testing in medicinal environments We will use these novel ON technologies to develop innovative treatment options for high-impact genetic diseases, i.e. Huntington’s disease, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Our European intersectoral and multidisciplinary research and training network for 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) will deliver: -highly skilled scientific staff required to fully exploit ON therapeutics for personalised medicine -top-class training in organic and chemoenzymatic synthesis, ON analysis, and biomedical/medicinal testing -transferable skills courses, specific industry relevant workshops and public engagement activities This combination makes OLIGOMED a truly exciting programme for ESRs. The platform will immediately benefit to both European citizens and commercial partners. In the long term, OLIGOMED`s flexible platform technology will be taken forward by our private sector and research institutions for exploitation and will thus strengthen the European innovation capacity in the field of ON therapies.