Exclusive Speaker Interview with Nagy Habib, Imperial College London & MiNA Therapeutics Released ahead of the RNA Therapeutics Conference 2022

The RNA therapeutics industry has grown at an exponential rate in recent years, with an increased spotlight following the industry’s leading role in developing vaccines against COVID-19 in response to the global pandemic. This year’s conference will reflect on how the industry has adapted and played a pivotal role in global health over the past year and will discuss the takeaways for future mRNA therapeutic development.

SMi Group is delighted to announce the 13th Annual Conference RNA Therapeutics, taking place on the 9th and 10th February 2022 in London, UK. The 2022 Conference theme is on the latest advances and opportunities in RNA-based medicine.

With only five weeks to go, visit www.therapeutics-rna.com/PR4PW to register your attendance.

Ahead of the conference, SMi Group caught up with Nagy Habib, Head of HBP Surgery and Co-Founder, Imperial College London and MiNA Therapeutics to discuss the challenges and developments in the RNA industry. See below an excerpt of the speaker interview:

What are your thoughts on the developing regulatory expectations around RNA and Oligonucleotide Therapeutics and Delivery and how is this currently impacting your role?

Since the development of the COVID-19 vaccine one can say that RNA oligos are the commonest drug administered around the world. Therefore, the stringent regulatory benchmarks should be reviewed with regard to the excellent safety profiles shown by these vaccines.

What current hot topic will you be addressing in your presentation and what would you say makes it relevant to 2021?

I am looking forward to talking about small activating RNA (saRNA) which has been developed over the last 7 years by MiNA Therapeutics.  Giants in the field such as Moderna, Anylam, Ionis, etc have been super successful in developing oligos that down regulate gene expression. But we have to remember that there are as many diseases that need gene up regulation as those that need down regulation.  So, the field is wide open for scientists and entrepreneurs to make their mark.

Nagy will be presenting on day one of the RNA Therapeutics Conference on “Small Activating RNA’s: From Concept To Phase 2 Clinical Trial” which covers:

• Small activating RNAs (saRNA) are double stranded 21 nucleotide RNA that either target promoters or enhance genes leading to mRNA upregulation
• saRNAs can be delivered with liposomes into the systemic circulation or subcutaneously by conjugation with aptamers or GalNAC
• MTL-CEBPA is an investigative drug that resulted from the conjugation of saRNA CEBPA with NOV 340 lipsomes that targets tumour associated macrophages in order to alter favourably the tumour microenvironment
• MTL-CEBPA has been administered safely in over 100 patients with advanced cancer and improved clinical outcome in a sub-set of patients when co-administered with TKI or check point inhibitor

Read the full speaker interview at: www.therapeutics-rna.com/PR4PW and register for the two-day conference.

Sponsors: BIA Separations | eTheRNA Immunotherapies | Thermo Fisher

For sponsorship enquiries contact Sadia Malick, Director on +44 (0) 20 7827 6000 or e-mail smalick@smi-online.co.uk   

For media enquiries or a press pass contact Marketing, Nikisha Galoria on +44 (0) 20 7827 6154 or email ngaloria@smi-online.co.uk

RNA Therapeutics 2022

9 – 10 February 2022

London, UK

#SMiRNA

www.therapeutics-rna.com/PR4PW             

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About SMi Group:

Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world’s most forward-thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk