Ariel Feiglin

SKIP Therapeutics develops RNA-based therapies for rare genetic disorders and common diseases – utilizing a proprietary computational discovery engine to optimize target selection and therapeutic design. We employ sequence-based molecules, called Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASO), to restore function of mutated genes in rare genetic disorders or to modify functionality of key genes in major disease pathways. Convergence of SKIP’s novel computational discovery engine alongside strong experimental capabilities form a unique venture in the landscape of RNA-based therapies. Thousands of rare genetic disorders affect millions of people worldwide, however the small number of patients for each disease, further segregated by patient-specific mutations, has hindered development of dedicated treatments. Recent advancements in RNA-therapeutics offer an expanded molecular toolkit that can be deployed rapidly and at low costs to restore protein function of mutated genes. Identifying sub patient-populations that could potentially be suitable for treatment with RNA-based therapeutics and matching molecular treatment-strategies across the vast landscape of known disease-causing mutations could be assisted by computational methods. To facilitate development of dedicated treatments, Skip Therapeutics has developed a bioinformatic pipeline that analyzes disease-causing mutations and recognizes the best molecular strategy (if any) to restore protein function, using splice modulating antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). Analyzing mutation data at scale, enables identification of treatable patient cohorts and optimizes target selection. Top candidates from the computational analyses are experimentally validated and pursued for therapeutic development.