Dicerna licenses rights to Tekmira technology

US RNAi therapeutics specialist Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DRNA) has entered a licensing agreement for to use Canadian peer Tekmira Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: TKMR) proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology for delivery of DCR-PH1, Dicerna’s investigational product candidate for primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1), a rare, inherited liver disorder that often results in kidney failure, and for which there are no approved therapies.

Tekmira’s LNP system has shown in other human clinical studies to provide potent, safe and effective RNA delivery to hepatocytes (liver cells). Licensing Tekmira’s LNP will streamline the development path for DCR-PH1 and allows Dicerna to focus its LNP efforts on its oncology pipeline.

Most recently, Tekmira has been in the limelight with respect to its investigational Ebola treatment TKM-Ebola, which has been granted expanded access use by the US Food and Drug Administration under its Investigational New Drug application (IND) and Health Canada has established a similar framework.