Ring Therapeutics Announces Publication Highlighting In Vivo Delivery and Tropism of the First Synthesized Human Anelloviruses Using a Recombinant Genome

– Synthesized anellovirus particles demonstrated tissue-specific delivery in vivo –

 

Cambridge, Mass. – May 02, 2022 – Ring Therapeutics, a life sciences company founded by Flagship Pioneering to revolutionize gene therapy with its Anellogy^TM commensal virome platform, today announced a pre-print publication in bioRxiv on the first description of an in vitro system enabling human anellovirus production. The study also showcases the tissue-specific delivery of these synthesized anelloviruses in vivo, a significant milestone in Ring’s efforts for engineering the next generation of redosable viral vectors through its Anellogy^TM platform.

“Human commensal anelloviruses are an untapped treasure trove of therapeutic potential that have been inaccessible largely due to the lack of a culture system for scientists to effectively study their unique biology,” said Tuyen Ong, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer at Ring and CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering. “At Ring, we’ve developed the first in vitro system to produce anelloviruses, providing us true dominion over anellovirus virology and novel insight into the truly unique hallmarks of anellovirus biology including highly targeted subtype-specific tissue tropism. Building on our previous work describing anellovirus diversity and immune favorability, this work showcases our ability to produce anellovirus particles that can selectively infect target cells more efficiently than the current vector gold standard of AAVs. Altogether, our Anellogy™ platform is constructed on a solid foundation harnessing each aspect of the unique biology of anelloviruses to generate next generation viral vectors that are diverse, exhibit tissue tropism and are potentially redosable.”

In the study, Ring researchers successfully developed an in vitro system to effectively produce anelloviruses and recapitulated tissue-specific delivery in vivo. Using a human cell line transfected with plasmids encoding an anellovirus genome, two distinct anelloviruses were produced in vitro, validated by viral gene expression, replication and imaging. Here, the team captured the first known images of purified anelloviruses using electron microscopy. One of these purified anelloviruses (originally identified from human retinal epithelium) demonstrated delivery and localization to retinal and posterior eye cup cells in vivo significantly better than the adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) control, showcasing anellovirus tissue tropism. Altogether, this work amplifies basic understanding of anelloviruses and offers new insights into harnessing their unique biology for development of novel precision medicines.