Benitec links up with ReNeuron to develop cellular therapies

Australian biotech firm Benitec Biopharma (ASX: BLT) has launched a new exploratory cellular therapy program including exosome-based delivery utilizing the company's proprietary ddRNAi technology.

Entry into these areas has been facilitated by the start of a collaboration with UK-based stem cell therapeutics company ReNeuron (AIM: RENE). The program aims to utilize Benitec's ddRNAi technology to address serious diseases using derived exosomes as delivery agents. This announcement follows promising initial data that has been generated in work performed at both companies indicating the feasibility of this approach.

Benitec and ReNeuron have completed a series of in vitro experiments that demonstrate that stem cells transduced with ddRNAi-expression constructs produce exosomes that are effective at delivering expressed shRNAs to target (cancer) cells and to knock down a specific gene in those cells.