HLB Panagene Unveils 'PNA Payload Optimization' Findings at 'OTS 2026'

HLB Panagene announced its research findings on optimizing peptide nucleic acid (PNA) payloads at the 22nd Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society meeting (OTS 2026).

An HLB Panagene representative explains the research findings at the 22nd Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society conference, held in Denver, Colorado, since the 11th. HLB Panagene

According to HLB Panagene on October 14, AOC is a technology that uses antibodies to deliver nucleic acid therapeutics to target cells. The antibodies seek out target cells, while the nucleic acids bound to them carry out the therapeutic action inside the cells. HLB Panagene is currently developing a platform that uses its proprietary PNA technology as the nucleic acid payload for AOC. Accordingly, technology for designing and optimizing PNAs with strong therapeutic activity against specific targets is considered a key factor in determining the competitiveness of AOC candidates.

This study focused on identifying the optimal design strategies for maximizing the activity of PNA payloads. The researchers made various chemical modifications to PNA structures targeting genes associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and cancer, and compared and analyzed their effects on RNA splicing regulation. Splicing is the process of selectively connecting the necessary regions of RNA. By regulating this process, it is possible to influence the production of disease-related proteins.

The experiments showed that therapeutic activity varied considerably depending on the type and position of the chemical modifications to the PNA, even when the same genetic information was targeted. Some modified PNAs demonstrated activity equal to or greater than that of phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO), an existing nucleic acid therapeutic material. In cancer cell experiments, a particular modified PNA produced the strongest cell-killing effect among the substances tested for comparison.

In particular, the PNA structures that produced optimal effects differed depending on the disease and the characteristics of the target. This suggests that rather than applying a single PNA structure across the board, the sequence and chemical structure of each PNA payload should be optimized individually for the disease and target of each AOC. Through this study, HLB Panagene established a foundation for designing PNA payloads suited to diverse targets and evaluating their activity.

HLB Panagene plans to immediately apply its PNA sequence and chemical modification technologies, along with its database, to payload design for its AOC platform. The company will combine PNAs optimized for specific targets with antibodies, assess their delivery to target cells and activity inside cells, and use the results to continuously identify promising AOC candidates.

A representative of HLB Panagene said, "To maximize the therapeutic effects of AOC, the performance of the payload—which produces the actual pharmacological effect after reaching the target cells—is decisive. Building on the PNA design technologies and data accumulated through this study, we will develop target-specific PNA payloads and turn them into a distinctive competitive advantage for our AOC platform."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.