Key Developments

In October 2023, Zentek Ltd., a graphene technology company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of graphene-based novel products, launched a wholly-owned subsidiary that will own the exclusive, global licensing rights for all aptamer-based technology from the collaboration with McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
In September 2023, IVERIC bio, Inc., a subsidiary company of Astellas Pharma Inc., a pharmaceutical company, announced that the S. Food and Drug Administration had approved avacincaptad pegol (Izervay) for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration. The drug is the second RNA aptamer to gain FDA approval, and the second complement-targeted drug for this cause of blindness.
In July 2023, Zentek Ltd. and McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, developed a novel aptamer technology that increases the binding affinity of aptamers by up to 250 times. The increased binding affinity enhances the limits of detection for aptamer-based diagnostics.
In January 2023, Aptamer Group, a biotechnology company, announced a partnership with BaseCare Therapeutics, a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative siRNA-based medicines, for the development of Optimer-targeted gene therapies
In March 2021, AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical and biotechnological company, announced that it extended their oligonucleotide drug delivery collaboration with Aptamer Group, a biotechnology company. Under this collaboration, both will research and identify a novel targeting aptamers to deliver drug molecules to the target renal cells