 |
Melbourne, Feb 5, 2010 (ABN Newswire) - Benitec Limited (
ASX:BLT)(PINK:BNIKF) licensee company Tacere Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has exercised the option, granted in a collaboration and license agreement previously announced in January 2008, to further develop and commercialise Tacere's Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) compounds.
The lead clinical candidate is a new class of agent containing three separate RNAi elements, simultaneously targeting three different sites of the Hepatitis C virus, and encapsidated in an adeno-associated virus (AAV) protein coat. In preclinical animal studies, Tacere have demonstrated that a single intravenous injection of the agent results in penetration of hepatocytes (the site of HCV replication) at sufficiently high levels to potentially eradicate HCV. Tacere have been collaborating with Pfizer for two years to demonstrate that this agent has an excellent safety profile in both mice and non-human primates.
"The triggering of this option by Pfizer is a validation of the Benitec ddRNAi 'expressed' approach to treating chronic diseases from the world's biggest pharmaceutical company" said Sue MacLeman, Chief Executive Officer, Benitec Ltd.
The significance of this arrangement for Benitec is:
- Pfizer has triggered the option to license a drug candidate that relies of Benitec's intellectual property;
- Benitec has an equity stake in Tacere Therapeutics; and
- Benitec receives milestone and royalty payments from Tacere Therapeutics under the agreement signed in 2006.
Tacere and Pfizer will now continue to work together for at least the next 12 months to complete regulatory toxicology studies with Pfizer maintaining funding for all aspects of this collaboration.
Benitec possesses and retains rights to all human therapeutic applications of its ddRNAi technology and continues to explore licensing and other growth opportunities. Benitec also has its own active development program with products in development in the infectious diseases and cancer space.
ASX:BLT)(PINK:BNIKF) licensee company Tacere Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has exercised the option, granted in a collaboration and license agreement previously announced in January 2008, to further develop and commercialise Tacere's Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) compounds.The lead clinical candidate is a new class of agent containing three separate RNAi elements, simultaneously targeting three different sites of the Hepatitis C virus, and encapsidated in an adeno-associated virus (AAV) protein coat. In preclinical animal studies, Tacere have demonstrated that a single intravenous injection of the agent results in penetration of hepatocytes (the site of HCV replication) at sufficiently high levels to potentially eradicate HCV. Tacere have been collaborating with Pfizer for two years to demonstrate that this agent has an excellent safety profile in both mice and non-human primates.
"The triggering of this option by Pfizer is a validation of the Benitec ddRNAi 'expressed' approach to treating chronic diseases from the world's biggest pharmaceutical company" said Sue MacLeman, Chief Executive Officer, Benitec Ltd.
The significance of this arrangement for Benitec is:
- Pfizer has triggered the option to license a drug candidate that relies of Benitec's intellectual property;
- Benitec has an equity stake in Tacere Therapeutics; and
- Benitec receives milestone and royalty payments from Tacere Therapeutics under the agreement signed in 2006.
Tacere and Pfizer will now continue to work together for at least the next 12 months to complete regulatory toxicology studies with Pfizer maintaining funding for all aspects of this collaboration.
Benitec possesses and retains rights to all human therapeutic applications of its ddRNAi technology and continues to explore licensing and other growth opportunities. Benitec also has its own active development program with products in development in the infectious diseases and cancer space.
About Benitec Limited
Benitec Limited (ASX:BLT) (PINK:BNIKF) holds a dominant position in expressed RNA interference (RNAi)-based human therapeutics, with a transformational platform technology supported by a robust and extensive intellectual property portfolio. Benitec is leveraging this platform to develop and build a pipeline of expressed RNAi therapeutics focusing on treatment and alleviation of cancer and infectious disease. With strong global partnerships and committed scientific and clinical investigators, Benitec Ltd aims to deliver a range of novel RNAi-based therapeutics to the clinic in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry.
|
||
|
 |
Related Companies |
>>>       Benitec Limited>>>    Pfizer Inc. |
| |
Related Industry Topics: |
Biotech | Drugs & OTC | Financial General | Health & Pharm General | |
| |
This Page Viewed: (Last 7 Days: 180) (Last 30 Days: 1050) (Since Published: 36780) |
Events & Exhibitions
|
Site Search
| ENGLISH All Languages |
|
Pfizer Inc. | ||||||
|
|||||||
AJAX UNION |
|||
|
|||
Companies in the News
ABN Newswire on iPhone/iPad
|
| Download from Apple |
Mobile Video TV
|
||
|
||
){kind=link}