Doylestown, April 6, 2023 – GeneLancet Biosciences, a pre-clinical stage biotech company focused on LgRNA-guided CRISPR gene editing therapeutics for cure has been awarded a Phase I grant from the National Institute of Health.  GeneLancet Biosciences, a preclinical stage biotech company focused on lgRNA guided CRISPR gene editing therapeutics for cure has been awarded a Phase I grant from the National Institute s of Health’s (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The grant will support GeneLancet’s development of treatments for chronic Hepatitis B using its proprietary STAR editing platform.
Hepatitis B is a debilitating viral infection that impacts over 350 million people worldwide and none of the treatments today can provide a functional cure. GeneLancet’s STAR editing platform, which leverages its proprietary ligated guide RNA (lgRNA) technology, offers a new approach for potential cure of chronic Hepatitis B.
Under this NIH SBIR grant, GeneLancet will develop the treatment for chronic Hepatitis B in collaboration with Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, a top research organization of HBV studies. “The treatments we have today for Hepatitis B only manage the disease and it is imperative to develop novel approaches to cure the condition.” says Professor Ju Tao Guo, Chief Scientific Officer of the institute. “The NIH SBIR grant is an important support for GeneLancet and its efforts to develop cures for millions of people worldwide suffering from Hepatitis B viral infection We look forward to advancing our work in precise and efficient gene editing using our STAR editing platform to develop cures. STAR editor is unique in its capabilities as it can deactivate both cccDNA and integrated viral DNA, and thus stop the production of viral proteins.”
says Minghong Zhong, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of GeneLancet Biosciences.