N4 Pharma plc, the UK biotech developing its proprietary Nuvec® gene delivery platform, has provided further details on its collaboration with nonprofit R&D institute SRI, highlighting progress in targeted RNA delivery for oncology. The new findings, which focus on non-small cell lung cancer cells, are informing a next phase of work aimed at developing RNA therapeutics with higher precision and potentially fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy.

The collaboration combined SRI’s targeting molecules with Nuvec to deliver therapeutic RNA payloads selectively to cancer cells. Nuvec particles were functionalised with a targeting molecule binding to the αvβ6 protein, found at elevated levels in epithelial cancers including lung, breast, prostate, and pancreatic adenocarcinomas. This approach enabled selective uptake of siRNA payloads, with activity detected only in cells targeted by Nuvec, demonstrating its potential to direct RNA therapies precisely to specific cell types.

Nigel Theobold, chief executive officer of N4 Pharma, said: “Targeting RNA therapies to particular cell types is highly sought after by companies developing RNA therapeutics. We have now demonstrated Nuvec’s ability to do this in multiple systems, which we believe sets it apart from other RNA delivery methods.” He added: “These recent data from our collaboration with SRI are particularly exciting because they represent the first example of the use of Nuvec for the potential treatment of some of the most common and life-threatening cancers.”

The data further validate Nuvec as a differentiated delivery platform for RNA therapeutics, capable of addressing multiple disease areas, including high unmet need cancers such as lung and pancreatic. The platform’s attributes—simultaneous delivery of multiple RNAs, cell-type targeting, oral delivery potential, low immunogenicity, stability, and simplified manufacturing—support both N4 Pharma’s own pipeline and the broader RNA therapeutics sector.

The RNA therapeutics market, valued at $13.7 billion in 2023 and expected to reach $18.0 billion by 2028, faces ongoing challenges in manufacturing and precise delivery. Theobold emphasised that demonstrating targeted delivery is key to both scientific and commercial progress: “These data generated with SRI are a significant step forward in that process, because of the high demand for targeted therapies to support deal-making and building our own differentiated RNA therapeutics pipeline.”

N4 Pharma raised capital earlier this year to expand studies supporting Nuvec’s performance claims. The results of the SRI collaboration strengthen the platform’s commercial potential and reinforce the company’s position in the rapidly growing field of RNA therapeutics.