Celanese, Secarna Pharmaceuticals enter RNA research collaboration

Celanese and Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG, an independent European antisense drug discovery and development company, announced a research collaboration for the development of long-acting implants that deliver antisense oligonucleotides. ASOs are synthetic molecules designed to target specific messenger RNA to prevent the production of proteins implicated in the progression of a wide range of diseases including cardiometabolic, central nervous system, oncological and rare diseases. Antisense therapy is an innovative, commercially-validated therapeutic approach, but often requires frequent administration or the delivery of large doses to achieve uptake at the intended site of action, ultimately causing a high treatment burden for patients.