Orna’s Approach & Strategy
We’re reshaping RNA therapeutics—shifting from linear to circular—to open an entirely new world of possibilities in the treatment of disease. Our engineered circular RNA (oRNA™) has unmatched advantages compared to linear forms, giving us confidence in the promise of changing patient lives.
Limitless Potential
Orna’s technology has a breadth of applications across multiple disease areas including cancer, regenerative medicine, protein replacement, infectious diseases, and autoimmunity. Our lead program is an in situ CAR therapy that combines oRNA™ molecules and proprietary lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) directly to patient’s immune cells within the body (isCAR™ therapy).
This off-the-shelf therapy would represent a significant advancement over traditional cell engineering therapies.
About Us
Creating a new class of therapeutics requires thinking outside the lines. Comprising a team of skilled scientists, molecular engineers, and industry veterans in addition to a world class Board, we are well-suited for the challenge of bringing the promise of our oRNATM therapeutics to patients.
News & Events
Orna Therapeutics Appoints Frank Neumann, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer
Orna Therapeutics Unveils Progress of Circular RNA Platform and Improvements in Lead Program ORN-101 at PEGS and ASGCT
ASGCT: in Situ CAR Therapy Using oRNA Lipid Nanoparticles Regress Tumors In Vivo
Industry Leader Brings Decades of Strategic Clinical and Cell Therapy Expertise as Orna Advances New Class of panCAR™ in vivo CAR RNA Medicines
WATERTOWN, Mass. April 11, 2024 – Orna Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to designing and delivering a new class of fully engineered circular RNA therapeutics (oRNA®), today announced that Frank Neumann, M.D., Ph.D., will join the Company as Chief Medical Officer. In addition, Dr. Neumann will join MPM BioImpact, which built and led the launch of Orna, as an Entrepreneur Partner.
“We are delighted to welcome Frank, an accomplished leader with a proven track record in CAR-based cell therapy and clinical development,” said Tom Barnes, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Orna Therapeutics. “His deep industry expertise, from proof-of-concept to clinical evaluation and beyond, will serve Orna well as we reshape RNA therapeutics to realize new treatment possibilities in hematological malignancies, autoimmune diseases and beyond.”
“Orna’s truly innovative approach to RNA therapeutics shows incredible promise to fundamentally change the way life-threatening diseases are treated,” said Dr. Neumann. “I very much look forward to supporting this work to deliver new medicines for patients.”
“Frank is a distinguished expert in advancing cell therapies into the clinic and through regulatory milestones,” said Ansbert Gadicke, M.D., Chairman of the Board, Orna, and Managing Partner, MPM BioImpact. “I am confident he will make significant contributions to the advancements and applications of Orna’s novel circular RNA technology.”
Dr. Neumann will join Orna from Kite, a Gilead Company, where he currently serves as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development. He previously held positions as Chief Medical Officer at Verastem, Inc. (also known as Verastem Oncology) and as Vice President, Head of Oncology Clinical Research at bluebird bio. In addition, Dr. Neumann served as clinical development head for all of Takeda Pharmaceuticals cell therapy approaches globally, and held various leadership roles of increasing prominence, including global clinical lead and medical team lead for two distinct cancer therapies. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the oncology medical teams at AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis.
In addition to his extensive industry experience, Dr. Neumann is board certified in Hematology/Oncology, Internal Medicine and Palliative Care Medicine. He was a research scholar at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and is currently an assistant professor at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. He earned his M.D. from the Heinrich Heine University and his Ph.D. from the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Bonn, Germany.
About Orna Therapeutics
Orna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to designing and delivering a new class of fully engineered circular RNA (oRNA®) therapeutics with the potential to change the way we treat disease. Orna’s proprietary platform combines novel technology to design circular RNA transcripts that drive protein expression with validated and unique delivery solutions. oRNA® has many advantages over traditional mRNA approaches, including simplified production, improved formulatability, and superior protein expression – making it a highly disruptive, new class of RNA therapeutics with vast potential to change patient’s lives. To learn more visit: www.ornatx.com and follow Orna Therapeutics on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contact
Peg Rusconi
Verge Scientific Communications
ORN-101, an optimized development-stage in situ CAR program, shows tumor eradication in a mouse model at doses far lower than previously reported results
Orna’s FoRCE screening platform has enabled the identification of oRNAs that drive high protein expression, creating broad value across all of Orna’s programs
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 18, 2023 — Orna Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a new investigational class of engineered circular RNA (oRNA) therapies, presented data on the progress of lead program ORN-101, a development-stage in situ CAR program, at the Protein Engineering Summit (PEGS) and at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.
The presentations include a session and talk at PEGS, as well as a poster presentation at ASGCT, which may be viewed on the Orna website here.
“Using the Orna FoRCE platform, we’ve been able to develop ORN-101, a potent anti-cancer circular RNA therapy delivered via LNP,” said Robert Mabry, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Orna. “We have achieved 20-fold lower dosing in animal models compared to earlier versions of the product, allowing us the flexibility to administer multiple doses of our off-the-shelf immunotherapy – something that could allow us to treat more patients quickly and easily.”
Synthetic Circular RNA as a New Therapeutic Modality
Elevated and durable protein expression – two features where mRNA falls short – are maximized with circular RNA in part due to Orna’s discovery of novel internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements necessary for translation. Compared to previously known IRES elements, Orna’s library of IRES elements can be used to drive higher protein expression in desired cell type targets. oRNA, because of its shape, is more resistant to quick degradation in the body, is easier to manufacture and formulate in the lab, and is immunoquiescent. These desirable features further allow oRNA therapeutics to be developed for applications beyond infectious disease, including oncology and genetic disorders.
In situ CAR Therapy Using oRNA
Over the past four years, Orna has worked to develop a therapeutic class capable of delivering a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to immune cells within a patient, eliminating the need for lymphodepletion typically required for engineered cell therapies, while providing off-the-shelf redosability in an autologous setting. ORN-101 combines oRNA and a proprietary LNP, and these latest data show ORN-101’s tumor eradication ability after 2-3 doses in a mouse model, effective at 10-20-fold lower doses than Orna has previously reported. ORN-101 features high expression of the CAR driven by an optimized IRES element, selected by Orna’s FoRCE platform to yield durable protein expression.
About ORN-101:
ORN-101, Orna’s lead program, is a development-stage in situ CAR therapy designed to modify a patient’s immune cells inside their body. Comprising an oRNA molecule packaged inside a proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation, this easily redosable format could avoid patient lymphodepletion and allow for reliable dose control, overcoming barriers of existing autologous ex vivo CAR-T therapies without sacrificing efficacy. Preclinical data demonstrates tumor suppression and eradication in animal models, suggesting the possibility that oRNA-LNP based cancer therapies could disrupt traditional CAR-T cellular therapies.
About Orna Therapeutics:
Orna Therapeutics is reshaping RNA therapeutics to open a new world of treatment possibilities. Orna’s circular RNA (oRNA) is created in one step by self-circularization of an engineered linear RNA. In this form, oRNA enjoys unmatched advantages over traditional linear mRNA therapies including simplified production, increased protein expression, easier encapsulation into lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), and immunoquiescence. Orna’s proprietary LNPs deliver the oRNA to specific areas of the body, such as immune cells. Founded in 2019 based on groundbreaking research from MIT, Orna was built by MPM Capital and its affiliate BioImpact Capital. To learn more visit: www.ornatx.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contact
Peg Rusconi, Verge Scientific Communications
prusconi@vergescientific.com