University of Illinois Chicago Team

SanoGene Exclusively Licenses Key Intellectual Property and Forms Strategic Partnership with Cato Research Ltd. (May 14, 2008)

Press Release (May 11, 2006)

Chicago Sun-Times article

Team members:
Caralynn Nowinski, an MBA/MD student, and Chirag Patel, an MBA/MS candidate

Company name: SanoGene Therapeutics Inc.

Goal: They plan to make their company, SanoGene Therapeutics Inc., the first to introduce therapeutic siRNAs (interfering pieces of RNA) that prevent tumor growth and invasion and induce cancer cell death.

"Glioblastoma is the most common adult brain cancer and it responds poorly -- if at all -- to current treatments," said Nowinski. "We believe we have an answer to this devastating problem with a safe and effective alternative to chemotherapy treatments."

SanoGene's initial product has shown to be safe and exceptionally effective outstripping its competitors in laboratory trials. It uses patent-pending technology, developed by Jasti Rao, Ph.D., University of Illinois College of Medicine, which combines the capabilities of multiple siRNAs into one deliverable product that targets cancer cells on multiple pathways simultaneously.