Aug 20 2010
Silence Therapeutics plc (AIM: SLN), a leading international RNAi therapeutics company, is pleased to note that its partner, Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Quark"), has announced the grant of an option to Novartis to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialise QPI-1002, a p53 temporary inhibitor siRNA drug which incorporates Silence's AtuRNAi technology.
Quark is currently conducting a Phase II clinical trial of QPI-1002 for the prevention of acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and for delayed graft function in kidney transplant patients. Based on the announcement issued by Quark on 18 August 2010, and under the terms of Silence's agreement with Quark, Silence anticipates that its future milestone payments from this program could potentially exceed $65 million.
Commenting on today's announcement, Phil Haworth, CEO of Silence, said: "We are delighted that Novartis has chosen to take this development option for QPI-1002. This serves as further validation of Silence's leading AtuRNAi technology and we look forward to receiving the significant milestones as the development of QPI-1002 continues."
SOURCE Silence Therapeutics plc
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