Value Proposition
· Delivery Efficacy: Demonstrates more effective gene delivery to cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) or human primary fibroblasts than industry gold-standards such as Lipofectamine 2000 and polyethylenimine (PEI).
· Cargo Compatibility: Enables encapsulation and delivery of a wide range of cargos including, DNA, RNA, miRNA, siRNA, isRNA, agRNA, saRNA, peptides, proteins, imaging agents, and small molecules.
· Advanced Cellular Targeting: Facilitates the uptake of cargos across diverse cell types, with tunable specificity achieved through precise small-molecule changes at the ends of the polymers.
· Intracellular Delivery: Promotes endosomal escape to protect the cargo from degradation and enhance delivery to the cytoplasm or targeted delivery to endosomal or other intracellular compartments.
· Controlled and Adjustable Degradation: Enables targeted intracellular release of specific cargo and customizable optimization for delivery to designated cell types via biphasic degradation mechanisms.
· Biocompatibility and Safety: Utilizes non-cytotoxic materials.
Unmet Need
· There is a growing need for a safe, effective, and versatile drug and gene delivery system. Although virus-based delivery systems are efficient, they pose serious safety concerns. Non-viral systems have emerged as alternatives; however, such systems are limited in their efficacy and pose serious cytotoxic risks. Thus, there exists a strong need for developing a new delivery system that combines high delivery efficacy, broad cargo compatibility, tunable cellular targeting, efficient intracellular trafficking, biphasic degradation, and non-toxic materials.
Technology Description
· Current drug and gene delivery systems are limited by their efficacy and safety. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have synthesized a novel library of cationic polymers designed to overcome these limitations. These polymers enable efficient, targeted, and non-toxic delivery of a wide range of cargos. Data demonstrates more effective gene delivery to cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) or human primary fibroblasts than commonly used delivery platforms such as Lipofectamine 2000 or polyethylenimine.
Stage of Development
· This technology is at an advanced stage, with two available patents. Other related patents have already been exclusively licensed.
o U.S. Patent No. 8,992,991: Biodegradable, pH-sensitive polymers that can adjust to different acidity levels (pH 5.5–7.5) and deliver large drug cargos up to 100,000 g/mol.
o U.S. Patent No. 9,884,118: Polymers with biphasic degradation and high customization for precise targeting, efficient cell uptake, and enhanced delivery performance.
Data Availability
· Data available upon request.
Publications
Green, J., Zugates, G., Tedford, N., Huang, Y.-H., Griffith, L., Lauffenburger, D., Sawicki, J., Langer, R., & Anderson, D. (2007). Combinatorial modification of degradable polymers enables transfection of human cells comparable to adenovirus. Advanced Materials, 19(19), 2836–2842. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.200700371
Sunshine, J., Bhise, N., & Green, J. J. (2009). Degradable polymers for gene delivery. Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference, 2009, 2412–2415. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEMBS.2009.5334767
