Respiratory Drug Research Based on siRNA Technology

A collaborative research and development agreement has been signed to exploit siRNA (short interfering RNA) technology for the development of drugs to treat respiratory diseases.

The agreement unites the siRNA research company Silence Therapeutics PLC (London, UK) with the major international pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (London, UK).

The two companies will jointly collaborate in the early phase of identification and optimization of novel siRNA molecules. Silence Therapeutics will receive initial access fees, clinical development, and commercial milestone payments of up to £200m (About US$400m) plus royalties on product sales, while AstraZeneca will retain full responsibility for clinical development and commercialization.

The agreement is primarily in the respiratory field but includes an option to allow for targets that extend the collaboration into other disease areas of interest to AstraZeneca.

Iain Ross, chairman of Silence Therapeutics PLC, said, We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce this collaboration with AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, which has a significant franchise in the respiratory area. This transaction provides further validation of the potential application of Silence Therapeutics' proprietary AtuRNAi molecules and our leading position in the fast developing field of RNAi therapeutics. In addition today's agreement highlights our ability to execute collaboration deals in line with our stated corporate strategy.

Jan M. Lundberg, executive vice-president for discovery research at AstraZeneca, said, AstraZeneca strive to access new technologies that hold future promise for bringing novel medicines to patients. We are delighted to partner with Silence Therapeutics in developing their siRNA technology and build on our investments made in biopharmaceutical and vaccine areas. siRNA technology will enable AstraZeneca to target disease mechanisms intractable to small molecules and other approaches.


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Silence Therapeutics PLC
AstraZeneca