20MED THERAPEUTICS AND PARTNERS RECEIVE EUROSTARS GRANT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MRNA THERAPEUTICS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

20Med Therapeutics announced with its partners Ethris GmbH, the AO Research Institute Davos and Paracelsus Medical University the receipt of a Eurostars grant to be used to further the development of a novel approach to treating osteoarthritis (OA) by the consortium of companies and institutions. The Eurostars program is managed by the EUREKA organization, which supports highly innovative technologies to bring them closer to the market and is supported by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Framework Program.

Osteoarthritis, which affects 130 million people worldwide, is characterized by chronic joint pain and functional impairment. OA imposes a huge burden on the individual patient and European health care system. No treatments for OA are available to counteract disease progression. Often total joint replacement is the only therapeutic option.

“With osteoarthritis predicted to be the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020 and no approved treatments to counteract disease progression, there is an urgent need for new treatment options,” said Dr. Michiel Lodder, CEO of 20Med Therapeutics. “The Eurostar grant will support the development of a novel approach to treating osteoarthritis using bioresponsive polymer-based nanoparticle delivery of stabilized mRNA factors into the joint.”

The consortium’s novel approach to developing new mRNA therapeutics for OA utilizes 20Med’s unique patented nanotechnology combined with Ethris’ proprietary stabilized non-immunogenic mRNA technology – SNIM®. The new therapeutics will be tested in different preclinical models by the consortium partners from Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria, and the AO Research Institute Davos (ARI), Switzerland.

Source: https://20medtx.com/news/joint-approach-pressrelease/