LIFE-CHANGING SCIENCE

A commitment to scientific breakthroughs in RNA therapeutics
An image of two female scientists wearing white lab coats, blue gloves and clear goggles standing side-by-side. The scientist on the left is reaching upwards and pressing a button on a large machine. The scientist on the right is watching while holding a rectangular box.
OUR SCIENCE

A new generation of life-changing RNA therapeutics

RNA therapeutics treat disease at the cellular level – they are precision therapies that have the potential to treat disease by instructing the body to modify protein production to allow for proper cell function.

Commercialised RNA treatments have been restricted by their poor uptake into the target cell as a result of their size and molecular structure. This ‘delivery challenge’ has limited the number of diseases for which RNA therapies have been successfully created.

By binding our custom RNA therapies with our proprietary therapeutic delivery platform of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), we are able to solve this therapeutic challenge to provide targeted treatments to a wider range of diseases.

Our delivery platform explained

Discover the unique advantage of our delivery platform technology.
An infographic of a blue curved line titled 'RNA drug'. This line is shown bouncing off a white line titled 'cell wall'. There is also a white arrow demonstrating how the RNA drug bounces off of the cell wall.

Our RNA therapeutic – phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO)

The PMO is an RNA therapeutic that is able to modify protein production and can treat disease by restoring protein levels. However, RNA therapeutics struggle to enter the cell on their own – this has limited the number of indications that RNA therapeutics have been designed to treat to date.

An infographic of three orange and two yellow alternating circles that form a chain. This represents the PYC patented RNA delivery technology.

Our delivery technology – cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)

PYC’s non-viral drug delivery technology (CPP) is linked to the PMO which enables it to cross the cellular membrane to deliver the PMO to its site of action.

An infographic showing a blues curved line titled 'naked RNA drug' bouncing off a white line that represents the outside of the cell wall. Below this, there is a chain of five orange and yellow circles with a blue curved line attached to the back of it. This is titled 'PYC's PPMO' and it is crossing the cell wall to enter the cell. Two further PYC PPMOs can be seen inside the cell.

Increased cellular uptake of the PPMO

When the CPP and PMO are linked together to form a PPMO, the CPP functions as a guide to the target cell to enhance cellular uptake of the PMO into the target cells. This technology opens up the potential for PYC’s drug candidates to be dosed at lower levels due to the efficacy of delivery to the target cell.

An infographic of a white ribosome with an orange piece of RNA underneath it. To the left of the ribosome there is a blue RNA drug which is covering a portion of the RNA so that the ribosome cannot read it. Below this complex there is a white arrow and three white chains of proteins. A title to the left of these proteins reads 'Increased target protein expression'. The title 'Inside the cell' is printed to the left of this entire infographic.

Cellular protein production

The RNA therapeutic instructs the cell to produce the desired proteins in sufficient quantities for the cell to function as intended, thus treating the underlying cause of the disease.

PYC’s superior drug delivery technology

We have leveraged millions of years of evolution by micro-organisms to create a structurally diverse set of non-viral RNA carriers called cell penetrating peptides (CPPs). We attach our CPP to an in-house developed phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) to create a PPMO. The CPP assists the PMO to enter the target cell, overcoming the historic delivery challenges of the PMO modality – with impressive results.

An cross-section diagram of the different layers of the retina from Bruch's membrane at the bottom of the diagram to the optic nerve at the top of the diagram. Eye cells such as ganglion cells and retinal pigment epithelial cells are labelled as are each layer of the retina including the inner plexiform layer and the nerve fibre layer.
A line graph comparing four groups – PYC PPMO therapeutic in orange, RNA therapeutic one in grey, RNA therapeutic two in dark blue and control in light blue. This graph is measuring SMN7(%) across the x-axis in the different layers of the eye which are listed on the y-axis. The PYC PPMO therapeutic has the highest SMN7(%) in all the eye areas with highest amounts achieved at the inner plexiform layer of the eye.
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    A photo of a female scientist wearing a white lab coat and blue gloves in a lab. She is placing a test tube inside a centrifuge.