From the January/February 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Further work showed the oligo was very effective when given to primates. Without it, Ebola was lethal, but with the oligo, most of the primates survived a lethal dose of Ebola virus. The Sarepta development program was funded by the U.S. government. Alas, the shutdown of government caused that program to be shelved at the time — very regrettable in hindsight.
Another company, Tekmira, also has an oligo in development against Ebola. It is about three years behind Sarepta. Its oligo is built differently, so is unlikely to have the same safety profile. But these anti-Ebola oligos may be the best chance doctors have of beating the virus once someone has been infected, if that infection can be detected and treated soon enough. Ultimately, to beat Ebola on a nationwide or global basis, an effective vaccine is our best hope, by providing protection through immunization, to a whole population.
But what of other bugs: New viruses that spread from animals to humans, as they will almost certainly do? Or old bacteria acquiring resistance against our best antibiotics? How can we beat them? Again, gene patches may provide us with the best chance of beating these new killers.
The exact DNA (or RNA) sequence of the microbe’s genome can be mapped, much as it can be now for homo sapiens. Along with that mapping, scientists can identify the specific sequence of letters within specific genes that code for the microbe’s most important proteins. A highly precise, complimentary “patch” can then be built to those exact letters, which will stick to them and prevent their message being read. Even more importantly, these therapies can be built in a matter of days (as Sarepta has twice demonstrated when requested) — rather than the years it takes to discover and produce other antimicrobials — so they are very appropriate for new, emerging diseases.
The days of the oligo are fast approaching, not just for beating rare disease, but for turning the tide against our old enemy — the microbe.
About the author: Dr. Stephen B. Shrewsbury qualified from the University of Liverpool and entered English family medicine specializing in lung disease. After 13 years in the National Health Service, he switched to pharmaceutical medicine, joining Glaxo and leading the launch of Seretide/Advair in Europe, before moving to the U.S. in 2000. After time at Chiron Corporation working in Cystic Fibrosis and other lung diseases, Shrewsbury joined MAP Pharmaceuticals, becoming their CMO, before AVI BioPharma. Since April 2013, he has been CMO at Aquinox Pharmaceuticals in Vancouver, BC. He is also the author of the book Defy Your DNA.
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