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news.AVI BioPharma and Eleos have announced a cross-license agreement for the development of antisense drugs targeting p53, a human protein that controls cellular response to genetic damage.
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Under the terms of the agreement, AVI is granting Eleos an exclusive license to AVI's Neugene third-generation antisense chemistry to treat cancer with p53-related drugs. In return, Eleos is granting AVI an exclusive license to its patents for treatment of most viral diseases with drugs that target p53. The companies are sharing rights in other medical fields where targeting p53 may be therapeutically useful.
Each company will make milestone payments and royalty payments to the other on development and sales of products that utilize technology licensed under the agreement. In addition, Eleos is making an upfront payment of $500,000 to AVI.
The normal function of p53 is to rid the body of damaged cells. However, in the case of cancer and some viral diseases, p53's normal function has been subverted in a way that actually produces the disease or many of its symptoms.