Developing extracellular vesicle-based RNA therapeutics for targeting Human T cell Leukaemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1)

Campus Plus is excited to share that we have just officially kicked-off another National Industry PhD Program project. This new project focuses on developing an innovative RNA-based therapeutic for Human T cell Leukaemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) which is a virus that can lead to myelopathy or blood cancers.

This partnership joins RNA drug delivery and extracellular vesicle engineering capabilities of Gene Company Pty Ltd and the antiviral RNA therapeutics, RNA design and gene‑modulation expertise of QUT (Queensland University of Technology) to explore an extracellular vesicle–based RNA therapeutic approach that can selectively target virus-infected T cells.

During the project human cells will be engineered to produce short interfering RNA (siRNA), short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and long antisense RNA (asRNA) designed to target and destroy the HTLV‑1 virus, package these RNAs into extracellular vesicles, and rigorously test their ability to silence viral genes and kill infected cells. The goal is to create a first‑in‑class therapeutic capable of suppressing HTLV‑1 infection and addressing a critical unmet health need, particularly in highly affected Indigenous communities.

The research will be conducted by PhD candidate Muskan (pictured) with support from Dr Adi Idris from QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and Dr Kevin Morris, Chief Scientific Officer at Gene Company Pty Ltd (pictured together), as well as the industry mentorship of Yun-Ju Nadia Huang, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Gene Company Pty Ltd.  Congratulations to all involved!