Cequent Seeks First Oral RNAi Trial

Cequent Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of RNA interference drug technology, said today it has filed an application with the FDA to begin the first clinical trial of an orally-delivered RNAi treatment. Cequent is seeking to test its drug, CEQ508, at a variety of doses in 18 patients with polyps that lead to colon cancer (familial adenomatous polyposis). Cequent hopes to get the trial underway before the end of March, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.