Silence Therapeutics and AstraZeneca extend siRNA delivery collaboration

UK biotech firm Silence Therapeutics, which recently merged with Intradigm Corp, says that Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca has agreed to a one-year extension of their ongoing small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery collaboration. Under this collaboration, which was originally entered into in March 2008, the companies are leveraging a number of Silence's proprietary lipid delivery and targeting technologies to develop new and enhanced delivery approaches for RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics.

Financial details of the collaboration and its extension have not been disclosed. However, under the original accord signed in 2007, Silence was eligible for payments of up to £200 million ($308 million at current exchange rates), of which £7.5 million was upfront and included a minority (2.9%) equity stake for AstraZeneca.

Under terms of the new accord, both companies retain the right to commercialize the novel delivery solutions that emerge from the collaboration. This agreement is independent of the companies' other ongoing collaboration which is focused on developing novel RNAi therapeutics against specific disease targets exclusive to AstraZeneca.