Cequent Pharmaceuticals

About:

Cequent is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of novel therapeutics to prevent and treat a wide range of human diseases.

Website: http://www.cequentpharma.com

Top Investors: Ampersand Capital Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, Pappas Ventures, Nexus Medical Partners

Description:

An early-stage biopharmaceutical company, Cequent is pioneering the development of novel therapeutics to prevent and treat a wide range of human diseases – from inflammatory diseases to cancer – based on the company's proprietary technology, TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi). Cequent's first products, now in pre-clinical development, are drug candidates targeting colon-cancer prevention and inflammatory bowel disease. The company designed its powerful tkRNAi technology to deactivate specific disease-causing genes safely and effectively, using non-pathogenic bacteria as an engine to produce and deliver RNAi directly into cells. It is based on ground-breaking scientific research originating at the Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) and at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. A privately held company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cequent was established in 2006. In July 2010, Cequent Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Marina Biotech, Inc (formerly MDRNA, Inc) for $46M.