I would say none of these are investment grade companies. They are research companies whose research is being funded by shareholders (instead of, or as well as, universities). Back in the day I started out in molecular biology and the big problem then has still not been adequately solved - targeted delivery of nucleic acids. The body has a thing about nucleic acids - they can represent a threat, and they are generally dealt with swiftly (aside from some peculiar exceptions which I've not heard well-explained). Therefore injecting them into the bloodstream as naked NA is generally not going to work, and clearly ingesting them (as a tablet) won't work at all. The trouble with viral vectors is that they are rarely highly specific in terms of targeting tissues, don't generate very high concentrations, and they don't persist in the body. Using autologous stem cells might be a better means of delivering NA but the constructs would need a way of persisting in daughter cells. There's a HUGE amount more knowledge now compared to when I worked in the area, but delivery is still the issue. And with a hyper virulent virus such as HBV, close to the perfect pathogen, getting enough in to inactivate it is an enormous task. Antiviral enzyme inhibitors remain the front runners in both HBV and HIV.
BLT Price at posting:
12.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
