ugichem Receives €2.25 Million funding for Antisense Drug Platform

Based on its proprietary Ugimer platform ugichem aims to develop a pipeline of antisense drugs addressing unmet medical needs in indications involving inflammatory processes with a current focus on rheumatoid arthritis.

With a new in vivo efficacy and safety profile the Ugimer antisense drug platform enables the functional modification of disease-relevant, previously undruggable targets in tissues and cells of the immune system not amenable to standard antisense approaches and RNAi. Ugimers penetrate immune cells, such as T cells, without the need for additional delivery tools and do not stimulate the immune system resulting in reduced side effects and an improved safety profile. Recent preclinical data using Ugimers demonstrated a highly efficacious modulation of target mRNAs and, consequentially, a significant reduction of inflammatory cytokines after endotoxemia in vivo in various key tissues for inflammatory disease including the spleen and thymus.

Dr Holger Bock, CEO of ugichem, said: “During the past two years we have generated significant evidence to support our unique antisense platform. Ugimers enable the utilization of the powerful antisense mechanism to modulate previously undruggable targets in inflammation. The additional funding will be used to further build on the therapeutic value of Ugimers and will allow us to identify lead candidates in acute and chronic inflammation.”