Vitarka Therapeutics has developed EndoPore, a targeted non-viral delivery platform utilizing engineered pore-forming proteins to facilitate the intracellular delivery of therapeutic cargoes such as siRNA, ASO, and peptides. This technology significantly enhances cargo delivery efficiency, achieving up to 80% cytosolic delivery, which addresses the low efficacy of traditional lipid nanoparticle systems in treating late-stage cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
Funding
$1.6M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Traditional methods of intracellular drug delivery, such as lipid nanoparticles, often exhibit low efficacy in delivering therapeutic cargoes like siRNA, ASO, and peptides into the cytosol of target cells. This limitation hinders the treatment of late-stage cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, where effective intracellular delivery is crucial.
Solution
Vitarka Therapeutics has developed EndoPore, a targeted non-viral delivery platform that utilizes engineered pore-forming proteins to facilitate the intracellular delivery of therapeutic cargoes. EndoPore enhances cargo delivery efficiency, achieving up to 80% cytosolic delivery, a significant improvement over traditional lipid nanoparticle systems. The platform's modular design allows it to carry a variety of cargoes into different cell types, including tumor cells, motor neurons, and sensory neurons. By specifically targeting and binding to cell surface receptors, EndoPore enters cells and releases its therapeutic cargo into the cytosol through a translocation channel in the endosomal membrane.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes pharmaceutical companies and research institutions focused on developing therapeutics for oncology, neuroscience, pain management, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Features
- Engineered pore-forming proteins for targeted intracellular delivery
- High cytosolic delivery efficiency (up to 80%) compared to lipid nanoparticles (less than 1%)
- Modular design adaptable to various therapeutic cargoes (siRNA, ASO, peptides)
- Cell-binding domain validated in human clinical trials
- Demonstrated efficacy in cell and animal-based disease-relevant models
- Scalable production processes ready for GMP-grade transfer, yielding several grams of EndoPore per liter of culture
- Specific targeting and binding to cell surface receptors for cellular entry
- Formation of a translocation channel in the endosomal membrane for cargo release into the cytosol