TECHNOLOGIES

1. Lentiviral Vector        2.  Immunotherapy         3. RNAi        

Vectorite's proprietary technology platform comprises 3 cross-linking technologies.

The fundamental technologies, i.e., lentiviral vectors, were granted two U.S. patents listed as follows:

TITLE	DATE	U.S. Patent
Lentiviral Vectors	Mar. 27, 2001	6,207,455
Lentiviral Vectors	Mar. 11, 2003	6,531,123

The technologies and their intellectual properties derived from the fundamental technologies are pending for patents and they encompass the following issues:

• Long-term expression of lentiviral vectors.
• Identification of highly differentially expressed tumor antigens.
• Modulation of dendritic cell function.
• Cell-based immunotherapy.
• siRNA gene therapy.

Most cancer patients are treated with some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Radiation and chemotherapy have the disadvantage of destroying healthy as well as malignant cells and thus can cause severe side-effects.

The major therapeutic approaches under our technology platform are classified as follows:

• Engineered effector cells, which are designed to destroy specific tumor cells and enhance the function of immune system;
• Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), which is designed to destroy target cells;
• Dendritic cells, which deliver the specific antigen to T-cells to elicit an strong cell-mediated immune response, e.g., Cytotoxic T lymphocytes;
• Patient-specific tumor antigen vaccines, which is to elicit immune response by a complex of tumor lysate and adjuvant materials.

As we have the powerful genetic tool and technologies to modify cells as we wish, our therapeutic strategy thus becomes flexible to battle with various tumors and viral infectious diseases.   Besides that, immune cell therapies are of least therapeutic side effects; thus patients' quality of life can be remarkably improved.

The only RNA molecules normally found in the cytoplasm of a cell are molecules of single-stranded RNA. If the cell finds molecules of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), it uses an enzyme called Dicer to cut them into fragments containing 19 base pairs with two additional nucleotides at the opposite end of each strand. The two strands of each fragment then separate to release the anti-sense strand. With the aid of a protein, it binds to a complementary sense sequence on a molecule of mRNA. If the base-pairing is exact, the mRNA is subsequently destroyed.

Because of their action, these fragments of RNA have been named "short (or small) interfering RNA" (siRNA). The complex of siRNA and protein is called the "RNA-Induced Silencing Complex" (RISC).

Because RNAi can be done in particular tissues at a chosen time, it often provides an advantage over conventional gene "knock-outs" where the missing gene is carried in the germline and thus whose absence may kill the embryo before it can be studied.

Because its target is so specific, the possibility of using RNAi to shut down the expression of a single gene has created great excitement that a new class of therapeutic agents is on the horizon.

We have the powerful tool to break through the industry-wide barriers of RNAi application.  To design siRNA, deliver siRNA to specific site and maintain stable expression are our expertise.  The potential of RNAi technology in research and therapeutic application be unlimited.