Aura: Protein particles deliver siRNA

Most lipid-based nanoparticles in development for delivering therapeutic siRNA to tumors have limited effectiveness because they lack tumor-targeting ligands and can degrade before releasing their siRNA cargo. Aura Biosciences Inc. believes its Nanosmart nanoparticles will have broad utility in diagnosing and treating cancer because they deliver intact compounds to tumors even though they too do not require tumor-targeting ligands.

Aura's nanoparticles are composed of an undisclosed modified recombinant viral protein that mimics the cell-penetrating properties of viruses, according to founder and CEO Elisabet de los Pinos. She said the virus uses the protein to escape clearance by intracellular endosomes during natural infections...