On-demand webinars and videos for you to know more about Hongene's expertise, technology, and end-to-end solution for RNA medicines development.
As several siRNA assets indicated for treating diseases associated with cardiovascular targets advance toward potential approval, the market demand for high-quality oligonucleotides is anticipated to grow substantially over the next decade. Gene editing drugs are also emerging as a viable modality to treat human disease and there is a growing need for increasingly long sgRNA oligonucleotides with high purity.
The current method for oligonucleotide production relies completely on solid-phase synthesis using the phosphoramidite method and encounters challenges related to scalability, product purity, and environmental sustainability.
Chemoenzymatic ligation technology offers the promise of improved purity, yield, and environmental sustainability. It is particularly well-suited for large-scale production of siRNA and high-purity synthesis of sgRNA, making it an optimal solution for meeting future market demands.
In this video, our CTO David Butler, explores the challenges and ongoing innovation in scaling oligonucleotide production to meet an expected exponential growth in demand for RNA therapeutics over the next decade, focusing on ligation technology applied to siRNA and long sgRNA molecules.
David Butler
Chief Technology Officer
David Butler is the Chief Technology Officer at Hongene Biotech Corporation, a fully integrated raw materials supplier and CDMO services provider that is focused on the RNA manufacturing space, the scope of which includes mRNA therapeutics, vaccines, siRNA, antisense oligonucleotides, diagnostics, and gene editing.
Prior to Hongene, he led organizations driving drug discovery and development of oligonucleotide therapeutics as VP and Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Wave Life Sciences, VP and Head of Therapeutics Development at Alltrna, and VP and Head of Chemistry at Korro Bio.
He also spent time as a Principal Scientist at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, developing early LNP technologies for siRNA delivery that were the progenitors of those used for mRNA-related products today. He is passionate about team building, working with individuals and companies to help them succeed, and leveraging novel technologies to advance RNA medicines more efficiently and safely.
Chemoenzymatic ligation is set to transform therapeutic oligonucleotide manufacturing, offering a precise, scalable alternative to traditional solid-phase synthesis (SPOS).
By combining the accuracy of enzymatic reactions with the control of chemical synthesis, this approach supports the production of high-purity oligonucleotides at scale, reducing
costs and minimizing environmental impact.
Whilst this technology can be applied to oligonucleotide constructs generally, it is ideally suited for siRNA and long sgRNA.
