20Med Therapeutics and Touchlight to collaborate on novel vaccine delivery platform project

Enschede, The Netherlands, and Hampton, UK – April 18, 2023 – 20Med Therapeutics, a leader in non-viral delivery and development of gene therapies and vaccines, and Touchlight, a biotechnology company pioneering enzymatic DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution, today announced that both parties will collaborate on establishing a novel vaccination platform that combines Touchlight’s rapid enzymatic doggybone DNA platform with 20Med Therapeutics’ bioresponsive polymer nanoparticle technology.

“Today’s news further underscores the flexibility of our platform in delivering both a range of RNA or DNA-based therapeutic payloads that are sourced either through partnerships or are based on our proprietary activities. We are looking forward to collaborating with Touchlight on this promising project, which will strengthen both companies’ platforms and increase the body of evidence around our nanoparticle technology” commented Michiel Lodder, Ph.D., CEO of 20Med Therapeutics.

“Our collaboration with 20Med Therapeutics has already delivered promising preclinical data showing the potential of nanoparticle-formulated doggybone DNA to produce strong neutralising antibodies and durable T cell responses following vaccine administration in nanoparticles. Both companies’ platforms offer distinct conceptual advantages in terms of speed, scalability, thermostability and avoiding the potentially harmful and cumbersome bacterial or viral process steps of traditional methods in the space. Touchlight, as part of its funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will be able to further evaluate and determine the potential applicability of this technology combination. Successful demonstration of the doggybone DNA platform’s effectiveness in DNA vaccine and gene therapy applications has the potential to support the global availability of innovative medicines and to further the application of the doggybone DNA platform in enabling rapid pandemic response” commented Helen Horton, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer of Touchlight.

Named after its schematic structure, doggybone DNA (dbDNA™) is a minimal, linear, double-stranded and covalently closed DNA construct. dbDNA can encode long, complex, or unstable DNA sequences, eliminates bacterial sequences and has a strong expression profile.

20Med Therapeutics’ nanoparticles have been specifically designed for efficient intracellular delivery of oligonucleotide-based vaccines and therapeutics. The technology platform is based on 20Med’s proprietary bioresponsive polymeric nanoparticles which provide protection of fragile payloads during ad-ministration and circulation but allow for rapid bioresponsive release of that payload as soon as the particles enter the cytosol.

Access a PDF version of the press release here

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About Touchlight

Touchlight is a privately-owned CDMO based in London, U.K., focused on the provision of DNA services and manufacture of enzymatically produced doggybone DNA (dbDNA™) to enable the development of genetic medicines. Touchlight provide rapid, enzymatic DNA development and manufacturing for all advanced therapy production, including mRNA, viral and non-viral gene therapy and DNA API. dbDNA is a minimal, linear, covalently closed structure, which eliminates bacterial sequences. Touchlight’s revolutionary enzymatic production platform enables unprecedented speed, scale, and the ability to target genes with a size and complexity that is impossible with current technologies. Clients can be supported from pre-clinical through development and supply, to licencing and tech transfer for use in-house.

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