ViaNautis Bio to present CNS delivery data at ESGCT annual meeting

ViaNautis Bio will present preclinical data on its polyNaut targeted nanovesicle platform at the ESGCT 2026 Annual Meeting in Hamburg from Oct. 27-30, 2026. The poster focuses on systemic delivery to the central nervous system and highlights dose-dependent brain penetration, automated manufacturing and stability data that could matter for gene and cell therapy development.

Why it matters: - Efficient delivery remains a major bottleneck for safe, redosable and scalable genetic medicines. - ViaNautis Bio is positioning polyNaut targeted nanovesicles as a non-viral alternative for systemic delivery to the central nervous system. - The platform is also being framed for broader use in immunology, inflammation, oncology and respiratory disease.

What happened: - ViaNautis Bio will present a poster at the European Society of Gene + Cell Therapy 2026 Annual Meeting in Hamburg, Germany, from Oct. 27-30, 2026. - The poster is titled “polyNaut: non-viral, polymer-based targeted nanovesicles for systemic delivery to the central nervous system.” - Dr. Sarah Wythe, ViaNautis Bio’s VP of Research, will present the work. - The poster session is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2028, in the Poster Hall, with abstract ID P0667. - Abstracts are available via the ESGCT online planner.

The details: - ViaNautis says targeted polyNaut nanovesicles, or tPNVs, are its proprietary polymer-based delivery platform. - The platform uses nanobody conjugation to enable cell-specific targeting. - The company says tPNVs can deliver nucleic acid payloads to cells and tissues including the CNS, immune cells and lung cells. - The poster describes targeted delivery as a challenge for lipid nanoparticle approaches because of targeting limits, manufacturing complexity, immunogenicity and ultracold storage requirements. - The research says polyNaut is designed as a plug-and-play platform for precise cell targeting. - The platform is intended to cross the blood-brain barrier for CNS delivery. - The team designed PNVs with targeting nanobodies that varied in binding affinity and surface density. - In mice after intravenous dosing, the work showed dose-dependent brain penetration and evidence of neuronal and astrocytic internalisation. - Dose-dependent targeting of transferrin receptor, or TfR, tPNVs was observed in vitro and in vivo. - TfR-tPNVs showed broad distribution across the whole brain after systemic administration. - A tPNV contains three components: a single block co-polymer, a genetic cargo and a nanobody for a defined cell surface receptor. - The block co-polymer self-assembles into a polyNaut nanovesicle. - Different cell-type specific tPNVs can be made by changing the nanobody. - The same backbone chemistry supports targeting of different cell types without changing the physicochemical properties of the nanovesicles. - The production process is automated and GMP-compatible. - Core unit operations include reaction, purification, filtration and formulation. - ViaNautis says those steps can be translated into standard CDMO infrastructure. - Independent batches showed tightly clustered physicochemical properties and comparable transfection efficiencies. - tPNVs remained stable at 4°C for more than seven months, with consistent size, polydispersity and activity. - ViaNautis says no immunogenicity has been observed.

Between the lines: - The pitch is not just about CNS delivery. It is about a manufacturing-ready platform that could be reused across multiple therapeutic areas. - The automated, GMP-compatible process is meant to address one of the most common hurdles in cell and gene therapy scale-up. - The emphasis on redosability suggests ViaNautis is trying to differentiate from delivery systems that raise repeat-dosing concerns.

What's next: - The poster presentation at ESGCT will give ViaNautis a venue to show preclinical data to gene and cell therapy researchers. - Further development will likely focus on validating targeted delivery across additional tissues and disease areas. - Broader therapeutic expansion could include immunology and inflammation, oncology through in vivo CAR-T applications, respiratory disease and other indications.

The bottom line: - ViaNautis Bio is using ESGCT to make the case that polyNaut could become a scalable, targeted delivery platform for CNS and beyond.