NeoRegen Biotech and Circio advance circular RNA delivery collaboration into in vivo stage
- Neoregen and Circio continue to progress their circular RNA research collaboration, initiated in 2023
- Neoregen will run in vivo studies to assess the delivery efficiency of circVec DNA vectors using their proprietary NICT delivery platform
- The planned studies will generate important data to validate the technology combination and select targets for future clinical development
Oslo, Norway, and Seoul, South Korea, 30 June 2025 – Circio Holding ASA (OSE: CRNA) and NeoRegen Biotech, today jointly announce the signing of a second Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) to advance their ongoing collaboration for the delivery of circular RNA (circRNA) expression-based therapeutics. The collaboration now is progressing to the in vivo preclinical stage. This milestone follows the successful proof-of-concept (POC) results from in vitro studies conducted under their initial MTA, signed in 2023. The collaboration was formed to provide solutions to the critical challenges in the delivery of nucleic acid medicines.
Circio is the world-leader in circular RNA-based expression systems for next generation gene and cell therapy. Its unique circVec expression platform has demonstrated the potential to significantly enhance the durability and expression level of both viral and non-viral therapeutics. NeoRegen Biotech, known for its next-generation intracellular delivery solutions, contributes its NICT platform, which has shown superior performance in cellular penetration and endosomal escape compared to conventional delivery systems.
The in vivo studies aim to further validate the therapeutic potential of circRNA expression vectors through the integration of Circio’s proprietary circVec platform with NeoRegen’s NICT (Neoregen Intra-Cellular delivery Technology). Together, the two companies are addressing one of the most critical challenges in nucleic acid drug development: achieving safe, efficient, targeted and durable intracellular delivery.
“The successful transition into in vivo studies marks a pivotal step in our co-development of circular RNA vector therapeutics,” said Dr. Jeongmin Seo, CEO of NeoRegen Biotech. “Combining NeoRegen’s NICT platform with Circio’s circVec technology has the potential to overcome key nucleic acid delivery barriers to fully realize the promise of gene and cell therapies.”
“It is a very important milestone in the partnership that NeoRegen Biotech has decided to progress to in vivo testing of their unique NICT platform with circVec DNA vectors,” said Dr. Thomas Hansen, CTO of Circio. “The NICT delivery technology has shown strong promise to enable efficient delivery of DNA-format therapeutics to specific tissues. The planned in vivo studies will generate essential data to identify target disease indications and progress circVec-NICT candidates towards future clinical studies.”
This second MTA reaffirms the mutual commitment of both companies to advancing circVec-NICT therapies with potential applications in cell and gene therapy, oncology, and beyond. As the program progresses through the preclinical phase and establishes in vivo proof-of-concept, Circio and NeoRegen plan to select specific targets for development and accelerate their joint R&D efforts toward clinical readiness.
About Circio
Building circular RNA expression systems for enhanced gene and cell therapies
Circio Holding ASA is a biotechnology company developing powerful circular RNA vector expression technology for next generation nucleic acid medicine.
Circio has established a unique circular RNA (circRNA) vector expression technology for next generation RNA, DNA and viral therapeutics. The proprietary circVec platform is based on a modular genetic cassette design for efficient biogenesis of multifunctional circRNA inside cells. The circVec platform has applications in multiple therapeutic settings, including genetic medicine, cell therapy and chronic disease. It has demonstrated over 70-fold prolonged RNA half-life and up to 15-fold enhanced protein expression vs. conventional mRNA vector systems in vivo, and has the potential to become a new gold-standard protein expression technology. The circRNA R&D activities are being conducted by the wholly owned subsidiary Circio AB in Stockholm, Sweden.
About NeoRegen Biotech
Pioneering advanced intracellular delivery technologies to unlock the full potential of nucleic acid therapeutics and peptide drug development
NeoRegen Biotech is a South Korea-based biotechnology company pioneering next-generation intracellular delivery platforms, especially designed to transform the landscape of gene, cell, and RNA-based therapies. Its proprietary NICT (Neoregen Intra-Cellular delivery Technology) platform enables safe, targeted, and highly efficient delivery of macromolecular therapeutic payloads across cell membranes and through endosomal barriers.
Recently, NICT has gained recognition as a next-generation delivery system capable of introducing various plasmid DNAs into cells with exceptionally high efficiency and no detectable toxicity, enabling the successful generation of large numbers of pluripotent stem cells. NeoRegen maintains a research and development pipeline that spans from early discovery to preclinical validation. With a robust foundation in regenerative science and intracellular delivery engineering, NeoRegen is committed to setting new standards in the era of intracellular therapeutics.
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