Circio Holding ASA and Avenue Biosciences have entered a research collaboration aimed at improving long‑term expression and secretion of therapeutic proteins for gene and cell therapy applications.
Circio is developing circular RNA–based expression technology (circVec) designed to drive higher and more durable protein production in target cells. Avenue Biosciences uses a protein engineering platform to optimize signal peptides—the short sequences that direct proteins into the cell’s secretory pathway—by screening thousands of signal peptide–protein combinations. The partners plan to assess whether combining durable circular RNA expression with enhanced secretion signals can increase output of secreted proteins, including antibodies, for use in genetic and chronic diseases.
The companies noted that many gene therapies are constrained by limited protein expression, which can necessitate higher dosing and complex manufacturing. Enhancing passage through the secretory pathway may offer a way to increase the amount of therapeutic protein produced per dose.
Under the collaboration, Avenue Biosciences will first deploy its platform to identify signal peptides that improve secretion of proteins encoded by circVec constructs. Circio will then conduct in vitro and in vivo studies to evaluate the performance of these engineered combinations.
Circio said a substantial portion of payloads envisioned for its circVec platform are secreted proteins, and that the work with Avenue will help explore how signal peptide optimization can expand the platform’s utility across genetic and chronic disease indications. The partnership is part of Circio’s broader preclinical strategy to test its circular RNA technology in multiple settings through external R&D collaborations.