Cequent: Trojan bugs for RNAi

Even though investors and pharma companies have poured large sums of money into RNAi technologies, identifying a reliable method of delivering siRNA into cells remains an obstacle in many tissues and disease areas. Cequent Pharmaceuticals Inc. believes it has solved this problem by using live, noninfectious Escherichia coli as a delivery vehicle.

While using a bacterial vector might on the surface appear to pose its own set of problems, Cequent has focused only on diseases associated with tissues that commonly encounter bacteria; namely, the gastrointestinal tract, the genitourinary tract and skin. ...