Oslo, Norway, 3 May 2023 – Circio Holding ASA (formerly Targovax ASA*) (OSE: TRVX) today announces that an abstract describing its circular RNA platform has been accepted for poster presentation at the 2023 American Society of Gene + Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, USA.
The abstract describes the development of Circio’s proprietary circAde vector system for therapeutic protein expression. Key elements necessary for circRNA biogenesis were systematically screened and optimized to facilitate high yield circRNA expression. Additionally, protein expression from the circAde vector was found to outperform conventional mRNA-based designs, both in terms of protein expression level and durability in vitro. Our results highlight the potential of the circAde platform for the development of novel, more effective strategies for the treatment of diseases in which durable transgene expression is desirable.
The poster is scheduled for presentation Thursday 18 May 2023 and will be available on Circio’s website after the presentation.
| Poster title: | circAde, a Vector System for Spliceosome Dependent circRNA Biogenesis and Prolonged More Effective Protein Expression |
| Date and time: | Thursday 18 May 2023, 12:00- 13:30 PDT / 21:00-22:30 CEST |
| Location: | The Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA |
| Poster number: | 1095 |
| Presenter: | Eoghan O’Leary, Director RNA Research |
About ASGCT
The American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy’s (ASGCT) Annual Meeting is the premier event for professionals in gene and cell therapy. The meeting is the best place for people in the field to learn from the latest scientific research, stay up to date on new technologies, and make career-advancing connections with peers.
Originally designed as a venue for academic researchers to share their work, the Annual Meeting has grown to serve a wide community encompassing clinicians, bio-industry development, regulatory agencies, equipment manufacturers, patient advocates, and more.
*) Targovax ASA, which is changing its company name to Circio Holding ASA, has called for an AGM on 22 May 2023, to vote for the approval of the change of its company name from Targovax ASA to Circio Holding ASA.
For further information, please contact:
Erik Digman Wiklund, CEO
Phone: +47 413 33 536
Email: erik.wiklund@circio.com
Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations
Phone: +47 922 61 624
Email: renate.birkeli@circio.com
Media enquires:
Andreas Tinglum – Corporate Communications (Norway)
Phone: +47 9300 1773
Email: andreas.tinglum@corpcom.no
About Circio
Building next generation RNA therapeutics
Circio Holding ASA is a biotechnology company developing novel circular RNA and immunotherapy medicines.
Building on deep experience in RNA biology, immunotherapy and viral vector engineering, Circio has established a unique circular RNA (circRNA) platform to develop novel circRNA medicines for cancer, vaccines, protein replacement for genetic disorders and cell therapy. The proprietary circVec technology is based on a modular genetic cassette design for efficient biogenesis of multifunctional circRNA from DNA-based vectors that can be deployed for multiple purposes. The most advanced therapeutic concept, circAde, builds on the company´s experience in oncolytic viruses to use engineered adenoviruses for delivery of circRNA to cancer cells. This unique approach is the only currently known circRNA program targeting solid tumors. Circio´s strategy is to develop novel circAde cancer medicines in-house and seek partnerships in other therapeutic areas to demonstrate the broad potential of the circVec platform and accelerate our circRNA pipeline development. The circRNA R&D activities are being conducted by the wholly owned subsidiary Circio AB based at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Circio´s clinical immunotherapy programs are designed to activate the patient´s own immune system to fight cancer cells and provide benefit to patients with no or few treatment alternatives. Lead candidate ONCOS-102 is an oncolytic adenovirus (AdV5) carrying a genetic cassette for mRNA-based expression of the cytokine GM-CSF, designed to selectively target cancer cells and drive an anti-tumor immune response. ONCOS-102 has demonstrated an excellent safety profile, strong immune responses and clinical efficacy in several cancer types in Phase 1/2 studies, both as monotherapy and in combinations with checkpoint inhibitors or standard-of-care chemotherapy. Circio is aiming to progress ONCOS-102 into a phase 2 trial in melanoma patients resistant to PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor treatment, subject to additional external financing and/or partnerships to support the program.
Circio’s second clinical stage program is an immunotherapy targeting KRAS driver mutations. Lead candidate TG01 has previously shown robust immune responses and encouraging clinical benefit in surgically resected pancreatic cancer, and is currently being tested in two clinical trials in RAS-mutated pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma in the USA and Norway. These studies are being run through industry and academic collaborative networks, supported by prestigious research grants from Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Research Council, creating broad future optionality for the TG01 program at low cost to Circio.