n-Lorem Foundation Partners with Hongene Biotech Corporation to Support the Discovery of Personalized ASO Medicines for Nano-rare Patients

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- n-Lorem, a nonprofit foundation, announced a new partnership with Hongene Biotechnologies that supports n-Lorem’s efforts to discover and provide personalized experimental antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) medicines to nano-rare disease patients (1 to 30 patients worldwide) for free, for life. As part of its commitment to n-Lorem and nano-rare patients, Hongene will provide amidites, compounds essential to developing ASO medicines, to n-Lorem to offset the costs of developing ASO medicines for up to 20 nano-rare patients.

“In many cases, nano-rare patients will succumb to their disease without ever having hope of a treatment that will halt their progressive diseases. At n-Lorem, we can and are changing this for nano-rare patients today. Our approach enables us to discover and develop an individualized ASO medicine that targets a nano-rare patient’s unique mutation, and we do this for free, for life,” said Stanley T. Crooke, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, Founder, and CEO, n-Lorem Foundation. “The need from the nano-rare community is substantial and we cannot do this alone. Thanks to the generosity of Hongene, we will be able to discover and evaluate ASO medicines for nano-rare patients without having to worry about sourcing crucial amidites. At n-Lorem we are grateful for the support from our partners as together we work toward making a difference for our nano-rare patients today.”

Hongene is a global specialist in nucleic acid raw material supply and CDMO services, committed to providing high-quality, high-value products with best-in-class lead times. The company reached out to n-Lorem when it learned of the foundation’s work to provide experimental ASO medicines for free to nano-rare patients who need them.

“We are proud to be able to contribute to n-Lorem’s work to help people living with nano-rare illnesses. At Hongene, we are dedicated to making nucleic acid medicines universally accessible for all who need them, including patients in the non-rare disease community. We are confident that our expertise in the production and supply of these key raw materials will be a tremendous asset that will help further the foundation’s mission to bring ASO medicines to those who need them most,” said Wei Jiang, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Hongene.

About Hongene

Hongene is an end-to-end partner for specialist nucleic acid manufacturing, offering a wide range of products to meet the needs of the life sciences industry. From standard raw material building blocks to complex oligonucleotides and mRNA, Hongene consistently delivers with exceptional quality and value. Through collaborations Hongene can help unlock the full potential of nucleic acids to develop life-changing treatments for patients worldwide.

For more information about Hongene and its range of nucleic acid products, visit the website at www.hongene.com and follow us on Linkedin.

About n-Lorem

n-Lorem Foundation is a non-profit organization established to apply the efficiency, versatility, and specificity of antisense technology to charitably provide experimental antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) medicines to treat nano-rare patients diagnosed with diseases that are the result of a single genetic defect unique to only one or very few individuals. Nano-rare patients describe a very small group of patients (1-30 worldwide) who, because of their small numbers, have few if any treatment options. n-Lorem Foundation was created to provide hope to these nano-rare patients by developing individualized ASO medicines, which are short strands of modified DNA that can specifically target the transcripts of a defective gene to correct the abnormality. The advantage of experimental ASO medicines is that they can be developed rapidly, inexpensively and are highly specific. To date, n-Lorem received over 260 applications for treatment with more than 120 nano-rare patients approved. n-Lorem was founded by Stanley T. Crooke, M.D., Ph.D., former chairman and CEO of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, who founded Ionis Pharmaceuticals in 1989 and, through his vision and leadership, established the company as the leader in RNA-targeted therapeutics. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

To learn more about n-Lorem’s mission at www.nlorem.org, and please consider giving to n-Lorem to bring hope, possibility and treatment options to these patients and families in need.

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