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Turn Biotechnologies launches eTurna™ delivery platform designed specifically to enable nucleic acid therapeutics

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Published : Sept. 13, 2022 - 22:01

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The proprietary platform is versatile, equally effective with different cargoes, routes of administration

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Turn Biotechnologies, a cell rejuvenation company developing novel mRNA medicines to cure untreatable, age-related conditions, today announced it has created a novel platform to safely and effectively deliver nucleic acid therapeutics – a major expansion of the company's business.

The eTurna Platform™ is designed for the next generation of precision medicine. It allows for a variety of cargoes requiring different routes of administration to be finely tuned and targeted to specific tissue and cells. The company will use the technology to deliver mRNA medicines developed using the proprietary ERA™ (Epigenetic Reprogramming of Aging) platform. eTurna™ can also carry other therapeutic cargoes through collaborations that would unlock the potential of emerging therapeutics while fueling the delivery platform's expansion.

"Our platform overcomes the ultimate barrier to mRNA medicine by making it possible to deliver therapies precisely to their targets," said Anja Krammer, Turn Bio CEO. "It is also extremely versatile, capable of encapsulating and stabilizing mRNAs and large cargo to produce formulations that can be developed for a wide array of therapies to transform how we treat disease."

Finding an effective carrier to deliver therapies to deliver nucleic acid and other therapies in a targeted manner has been a challenge for researchers worldwide. Traditional lipid carriers, designed primarily to deliver vaccines, have proven inadequate for many applications because of their instability and poor bioavailability, solubility and absorption in the body. These problems threaten delivery challenges and potentially severe adverse effects for patients.

Turn Bio's nanostructure carriers sidestep these issues, can be adapted for individual therapies and tuned for use through different routes of administration. The platform will produce unique formulations to precisely steer the right mRNA or other cargo to the right organs, tissues and cell types.

eTurna was developed by Turn Bio's CMC team, which has nearly eight decades of biotechnology experience, led by Mouhannad Jumaa, PhD, executive vice president of pharmaceutical development/CMC.

Jumaa, a 20-year biopharmaceutical industry veteran, has invented and developed several nano-lipids and liposomal drug products.  He has nine patents for his development work, including products to stabilize and deliver encapsulated drugs into targets for different routes of administration.

"eTurna caps a lifetime of work to develop new ways to deliver therapies more precisely than ever," said Jumaa. "It overcomes the final obstacles that have prevented transformational therapies from reaching patients. eTurna will help to redefine patient care."

He has conducted research in Europe, the Middle East and United States, and helped many biotechnology companies develop new products. The former head of Pharmaceutics with Onyx/Amgen, Jumaa has worked with a variety of biotechnology companies, including Roivant Sciences, Rain Therapeutics, and Cyclarity Therapeutics. He has held senior scientific roles at Affymax, Rigel and 3M.

ABOUT TURN BIOTECHNOLOGIES

Turn Bio is a pre-clinical-stage company focused on repairing tissue at the cellular level and developing transformative drug delivery systems. The company's proprietary mRNA platform technology, ERA™, restores optimal gene expression by combatting the effects of aging in the epigenome. This restores cells' ability to prevent or treat disease and heal or regenerate tissue. It will help to fight incurable chronic diseases. Its eTurna™ Delivery Platform uses unique formulations to precisely deliver cargo to specific organs, tissues and cell types.

The company is completing pre-clinical research on tailored therapies targeting indications in dermatology and immunology, and developing therapies for ophthalmology, osteo-arthritis and the muscular system. For more information, see www.turn.bio.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Jim Martinez, rightstorygroup
jim@rightstorygroup.com or (312) 543-9026