The University of Cincinnati (UC) has signed worldwide exclusive license agreements with privately held Techulon, Inc., a life sciences company based at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, to manufacture and sell transfection reagents used for research and therapeutic delivery of nucleic acids. The licenses cover a family of molecules invented by Theresa M. Reineke, PhD, while she was a faculty member in the chemistry department at UC’s McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. The university has filed two patent applications on the technology.<\/p>\n
Marketed by Techulon under the name Glycofect Transfection Reagent, the polymer-based formulations demonstrate efficacy for delivering genetic materials into a variety of cell types for health-related research and drug development. In contrast to currently used lipid-based transfection reagents, Techulon’s products are based on carbohydrate polymer structures invented by Reineke, now an associate professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech. “This new class of polymers can deliver DNA research reagents and therapeutics into a high number of cells and tissues types without causing cell damage or death,” Reineke explains. “After cellular delivery, the glycopolymers degrade and release their DNA cargo to perform its biological function without toxic side effects.”<\/p>\n
Glycofect is available for purchase as a transfection reagent for research applications, and Techulon plans to sublicense the reagent to companies seeking an efficient vector with low toxicity for therapeutic development, according to Frank Akers, the company’s president. Glycofect’s delivery, high gene expression, and low toxicity are particularly evident in primary cells, he adds. Current transfection reagents do not work well with primary cells, which are costly and difficult to obtain.<\/p>\n