BIORCHESTRA Wins Grand Prize in 2023 Merck Advance Biotech Grant Program

Revolutionizing Biotechnology: BIORCHESTRA Awarded Prestigious Grand Prize in the 2023 Merck Advance Biotech Grant Program

Biorchestra, a biotherapeutics company focused on the treatment of rare and degenerative diseases within the Central Nervous System (CNS), announced receipt of the grand prize award in the 2023 Merck Advance Biotech Grant Program.    

BIORCHESTRA's Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Branden Ryu, commented, "We are deeply honored to receive Merck's prestigious grand prize award for 2023 in recognition of the significant in-vivo outcomes achieved from our proprietary IV-formulated, Brain-targeting Ribonucleic Acid Interference (RNAi) Nanomedicine (BTRiN^TM) platform.  BRTiN^TM combines industry-leading and proprietary, IV-formulated RNA chemistries with biological barrier cross and cell targetted delivery of RNA medicine focused on Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease."

Key results from our lead ASO and siRNA programs (BMD-001) in 2023 include: Evidence of successful intravenous cell-targeted delivery in non-human primates (NHP) and disease amelioration in an Alzheimer's model; and Target gene knockdown efficiency in sub-brain regions following intravenous injection.

These promising data are consistent with earlier NHP and rodent study findings that noted broad biodistribution in the brain, coupled with noteworthy neurodegenerative disease target knockdown across multiple measures, driven by a single IV formulation.

BTRiN^TM targets an amino acid uptake receptor in the blood-brain barrier shared by neurons, astrocytes, and microglia (optional: thus ensuring both transfer across the BBB and entry into the target cells).  In addition to significant functional outcomes in a non-human primate study of Alzheimer's disease, BTRiN^TM has been leveraged with siRNA to validate the effective knockdown of a target implicated in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.  Ongoing company discovery and development research will leverage BTRiN^TM for other underserved diseases, such as Glioblastoma multiforme, Lewy body dementia, Spinocerebellar ataxia type three, Frontotemporal dementia, Progressive supranuclear palsy. 

Published on : 18th July, 2023