The 145th Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (Fukuoka)

Sponsored by Transformative Research Area (B) “Cell Membrane Permeation of Oligonucleotides Controlled by Membrane Modulator Molecules”
Organizer: Takashi Osawa, (Grad. Sch. Pharm., Osaka Univ.) Yuuya Kasahara (NIBIOHN)

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and siRNAs have attracted attention as a drug discovery modality following small molecule and antibody drugs, and their development research is becoming more active every year. As a result of numerous attempts to improve the efficacy of oligonucleotide therapeutics by utilizing chemically modified nucleic acids, it is now possible to easily obtain oligonucleotides with high efficacy required for clinical application. In addition, the delivery of oligonucleotide therapeutics to target tissues, which had been an issue until recently, is being overcome by the fusion of state-of-the-art DDS using lipid nanoparticles and nucleic acid science. However, to further accelerate their practical application, there are still many issues that cannot be solved by conventional technologies, such as the extremely low cell membrane permeability of oligonucleotides. Furthermore, for oligonucleotide therapeutics to continue to develop in the future, it is essential to develop new modalities following ASO and siRNA. In this symposium, six young pharmaceutical scientists who are taking up the challenge of overcoming such situations will present some of their latest research. In addition, some of the symposiasts will introduce the latest results of the ongoing Transformative Research Area (B) project, "Cell Membrane Permeation of Oligonucleotides Controlled by Membrane Modulator Molecules" which aims to improve the membrane permeability of oligonucleotide therapeutics.