Quark Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Fremont, California, has announced interim data from an open-label, dose escalation Phase I trial in 38 patients treated with QPI-1007, a synthetic short interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting the pro-apoptotic gene caspase-2. Quark Pharmaceuticals, founded in 1994, is focused on the use of short-interfering RNA – a nucleic acid based approach for targeting RNA transcripts – currently being applied by the company to a range of ocular indications including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME) and non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).