Dr. Malcolm Skolnick, CytoGenix President and CEO commented, "Once you eliminate the bacteria, the scale of production and related costs of DNA come way down. This technology transcends economic implications. More importantly, we have introduced a fundamental improvement to the science of making DNA. For example, DNA vaccines are made of DNA "rings" called plasmids. Scientists design these plasmids to contain instructions that "prompt" the immune system to identify and destroy a viral or bacterial pathogen, such as those that cause AIDS, SARS or influenza."
"Along with the therapeutic DNA, the traditional bacteria-based technology requires that the plasmid contain DNA "instructions" for its replication in E. coli as well. These extraneous bacterial genes are not entirely benign and can elicit serious side effects. By eliminating the need for this extra DNA, the plasmids are significantly smaller and safer, thus enabling greater drug concentrations if required. We believe that by eliminating these extra pieces in the DNA plasmid, scientists will now have much more freedom and control in designing better and safer DNA drugs."
"We will use this technology to reduce the costs of the DNA needed for the clinical trials of our herpes anti-viral and anti-inflammatory topical products as well as making the technology available to others through licensing or contract manufacturing," adds, Dr. Skolnick