Innovating Nucleic Acid Medicine with heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO)

Rena Therapeutics Inc. (Rena) was established in 2015 as a biotech venture focusing on a new platform technology for nucleic acid medicines, called heteroduplex oligonucleotides (HDO) technology.

HDO has the features of DNA/RNA double-stranded oligonucleotide consisting of the antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) strand and a complementary sequence to the ASO as carrier strand which is conjugated with specific ligands.

Toxicity reduction and efficient delivery are the critical elements to be realized in the HDO format by utilizing the characteristics of double stranded structure and introducing suitable ligands. Specifically, we have ligands that effectively deliver of HDO to kidney (glomeruli, podocytes and tubules), lung, muscles and immune system cells etc.

In addition to the track record of technology licensing, Rena intends to make further contributions to drug discovery and asset enhancement within companies focused on nucleic acid therapeutics.