Innovative RNA Therapy for the Lungs: EIC Awards RNhale €2.5 Million Grant

Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease in children and also frequently occurs in adults. However, it is not a single disease, but rather a collection of various conditions with different molecular causes. Therefore, a standardized "one-size-fits-all" therapy is insufficient to effectively address this health issue. Targeted medications are particularly necessary for severe asthma. But how do they get to exactly the right places in the lungs, with exactly the right dosage? This is exactly what a team led by CPC-M group leaders Olivia Merkel and Benjamin Winkeljann at the Department of Pharmacy (Ludwig Maximilian University Munich) is researching. With their spin-off RNhale, they are developing inhalable RNA-based therapeutics. For their project with the acronym ‘ARISE’ they are now receiving funding from the European Innovation Council worth two and a half million euros.

Revolutionizing lung therapy through RNA

RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural cellular gene silencing process that regulates gene expression. Building on this principle, RNhale's lung delivery platform is a groundbreaking advance in pulmonary therapy. It enables the precise delivery of RNAi molecules to the lung, targeting and treating pathologically overexpressed genes. The platform technology, specifically designed to work independently of RNA sequences, could in the future be utilized to combat a variety of lung diseases.

The funds will enable the team to further develop the delivery platform of the inhaled therapeutics The RNhale team is expected to grow larger, and new, state-of-the-art equipment will also help to bring the new therapy to the clinic and thus to patients with severe asthma as quickly as possible.

Find out more about RNhale and the research behind it here:

https://rnhale.com/

Source: RNhale – precisely to the lungs – CPC - M