METiS TechBio to Present Late-Breaking Data on Near-Complete Cardiomyocyte Delivery at CRS 2026

METiS TechBio (7666.HK), a leader in AI-driven drug delivery, revealed new preclinical data demonstrating near-complete (~100%) cardiomyocyte transfection using its heart-targeted lipid nanoparticle (LNP) program. The findings, developed via its proprietary NanoForge AI platform, will be presented by Dr. Andong Liu at the 2026 Controlled Release Society (CRS) Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, in July. The presentation, titled 'Systemic Heart-Selective Lipid Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency In Vivo Delivery and Cardiomyocyte Gene Editing,' highlights a significant advance in extrahepatic LNP delivery, a historically difficult challenge due to cardiomyocytes' low endocytic activity. The study utilized AI-driven lipid discovery and formulation optimization to achieve systemic delivery of genetic payloads directly to cardiomyocytes. Initial lead lipids reached ~30% delivery efficiency, which improved to ~70% after optimization. Further functionalization with antibody-targeting ligands resulted in near-complete (~100%) transfection and significant gene editing upon CRISPR-Cas9 delivery. This breakthrough could unlock new therapeutic avenues for cardiovascular diseases, including hereditary cardiomyopathies, heart failure, and post-myocardial infarction repair. Dr. Chris Lai, Chairman and CEO of METiS TechBio, emphasized the potential of the NanoForge platform to address a critical gap in genetic medicine: extrahepatic delivery. The research team employed high-throughput in vivo screening and AI lipid design to identify LNPs with heart-specific tropism, testing candidates in mTmG mouse models using Cre-mRNA to induce eGFP expression. The optimized formulation, termed cardiomyocyte-targeted tLNP (CM-tLNP), demonstrated both high efficiency and reduced off-target risks. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are widely used for genetic payload delivery, but organ-specific targeting beyond the liver has remained elusive. METiS TechBio’s approach combines AI-driven discovery with active ligand engineering to achieve precise cardiomyocyte delivery. The company’s success suggests AI-driven organ-targeted delivery is advancing toward clinical applications, potentially transforming treatments for major cardiovascular diseases. The Late-Breaking oral presentation at CRS 2026 underscores the scientific and therapeutic significance of the findings. By overcoming the long-standing barrier of cardiomyocyte delivery, METiS TechBio’s technology could enable systemic administration of gene-editing therapies, improving precision and reducing risks associated with off-target effects.