Link Technologies launches vitamin modifier for cell delivery of oligonucleotides

Link Technologies has announced the launch of a new product to aid the vitamin-mediated cell delivery of oligonucleotides.

The novel vitamin modifier, 5'-Niacin-CE Phosphoramidite, has been shown in initial tests to have the potential to greatly facilitate this process and can be easily incorporated during solid phase oligo synthesis.

It offers a number of advantages over conventional lipophilic delivery agents, including reduced risk of in vivo toxicity and the removal of the necessity of cleaving the delivery reagent once inside the cell.

Lipophilic modifier reagents have been shown to enhance cell penetration, but vitamin-mediated cell delivery is even better for this purpose due to the fact that vitamins are required, but not produced, by cells.

Catherine McKeen, head of technology commercialisation of Link Technologies, said: "The ability to incorporate vitamin modifiers during oligo synthesis opens up significant potential to utilise a range of vitamin-oligonucleotide conjugates as a means of enhanced cellular uptake of therapeutic oligonucleotides."

This comes after the firm also recently introduced the first palmitate phosphoramidite modifier available commercially for the improvement of oligonucleotide delivery.