STAT-6 siRNA Presentation

Roquefort Therapeutics (LSE:ROQ), the Main Market listed biotech company focused on developing first in class medicines in the high value and high growth immunology and oncology markets, is pleased to announce that the latest experimental results for its STAT-6 siRNA program will be presented at the Advanced Therapy Development Congress in London today.

STAT-6 siRNA Immunology / Oncology Medicine

siRNA therapeutics are an innovative new class of medicines based on RNA interference (RNAi), whereby a gene is downregulated by disrupting its messaging machinery, which was recognised with the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Roquefort Therapeutics' siRNA programs target STAT-6. Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT) proteins are both signalling proteins and transcription factors that play a role in cell growth, differentiation and function. STAT-6 is a key nodal transcription factor that selectively mediates downstream signalling of IL-4 and IL-13, dominant and central cytokines in the pathophysiology of Type 2 inflammatory diseases[1].

As previously announced, Roquefort Therapeutic's siRNA programs have demonstrated in vivo proof of concept and efficacy in oncology. This new set of experiments investigated the use of the siRNA in the inflammation and immunology ("I&I") field. STAT-6 is a novel I&I target validated by Sanofi and Recludix Pharma through a significant ($100M) licensing transaction in 20231. Our preliminary experiments demonstrated a significant reduction in the levels of total STAT-6.

Presentation of STAT6 siRNA results at the Advanced Therapy Development Congress

At the Advanced Therapy Development Congress today, the Company will present the new results of the STAT-6 siRNA experiments in the I&I indication in a scientific presentation titled Development of First-In-Class Advanced Therapies For Immunology and Oncology.

The results presented today show that in a validated THP-1 model of I&I disease, the STAT-6 siRNA dampened the immune response. Following IL-4 stimulation, the THP-1 cells were treated with siRNA eliciting an ~10 fold reduction in total STAT-6 with a corresponding reduction in phospho-STAT-6 and modification of the key biomarkers CCL-17 and CD-23.

Roquefort Therapeutics CEO Ajan Reginald commented:

"The results presented today highlight the Company's internal research and development expertise in the Immunology and Inflammation field and the potency of our siRNA program, in the highly attractive STAT-6 niche. A number of leading Biotech companies have focused their research in the STAT-6 field and so, we sought advice and designed our experiments based on feedback from our potential Pharma partners. The results demonstrate our siRNA is highly competitive in a head-to-head comparison with the leading STAT-6 companies, with potentially better absolute efficacy.

These are the types of results we were seeking to validate our business model of discovering early breakthrough innovation from which we develop medicines that are highly attractive to Big Pharma. We are progressing with the Company's near-term imperative, which remains, to complete meaningful partnerships with one or more Big Pharma companies."