Dong-A ST signed a memorandum of understanding with Eleven Therapeutics to develop RNA-based gene therapy on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Tuesday (local time). The JPMHC 2024 is held in San Francisco, Calif., from Monday to Thursday.
The two companies will collaborate on discovering RNA therapeutics targeting fibrosis diseases using Eleven Therapeutics' “TERA” platform technology. The platform tech uses artificial intelligence-machine learning technology to decipher structure-activity relationships (SARs) of RNA chemical modifications with high throughput.
Founded in 2020, Eleven Therapeutics is an Israeli biotech that develops xRNA by combining combinatorial chemistry and synthetic biology technologies with AI and ML technologies. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested $9 million to support the development of its RNA design platform.
Last summer, the company entered into a research partnership with Novo Nordisk to develop RNA therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases utilizing its delivery platform technology. In addition to Israel, the company has laboratories and offices in Cambridge, U.K., and Boston, Mass., with active research activities in all three countries.
"We are excited to join Dong-A ST in our journey to address the unmet medical needs of fibrotic diseases," said Yaniv Erlich, CEO and co-founder of Eleven Therapeutics. “We look forward to building on this partnership and applying xRNA therapeutics to various disease areas."
Dong-A ST President for R&D Park Jae-hong said, "By collaborating with Eleven Therapeutics, which has excellent technology, we are one step closer to developing innovative RNA therapeutics,” adding that Dong-A ST will strive to become a company centered on gene therapy and cell therapy."