Date: 2014-01-08
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology
Company: Santaris Pharma (Denmark) Isarna Therapeutics (Germany)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: licensing
Action mechanism: The LNA Drug Platform and Drug Discovery Engine combines Santaris Pharma\'s proprietary LNA chemistry with its specialized and targeted drug development capabilities to rapidly deliver LNA-based drug candidates against both mRNA and microRNA, thus enabling scientists to develop drug candidates against diseases that are difficult, or impossible, to target with contemporary drug platforms such as antibodies and small molecules. The LNA Drug Platform overcomes the limitations of earlier antisense and siRNA technologies through a combination of small size and very high affinity that allows this new class of drugs candidates to potently and specifically inhibit RNA targets in many different tissues without the need for complex delivery vehicles.
Disease: TGF-Beta-mediated diseases
Details: * On January 8, 2014, Santaris Pharma and BetaIsarna Therapeutics have announced that they have signed an agreement whereby Isarna gains access to Santaris\' Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology to further develop its next generation oligonucleotide product candidates. Under the terms of the agreement, Isarna obtains rights to utilize Santaris Pharma\'s proprietary LNA Drug Platform to discover, develop and commercialize immunotherapeutics targeted against the cytokine Transforming Growth Factor Beta1, Beta2 and Beta3 (TGF-Beta). TGF-Beta represents a critical pathway in oncology as its overexpression has been linked to progression and poor patient outcomes for various cancers and is suspected to play a role in other diseases as well.
Financial terms: Santaris will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for development, regulatory and sales milestones. Furthermore, Santaris will receive a share of any sub-licensing revenues and royalties on worldwide sales of alliance products. No further financial details have been disclosed.
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