Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, MDRNA will receive $7.25 million in upfront fees for the non-exclusive license.
Additionally, the companies have entered into a separate agreement, which provides Novartis with an exclusive period to negotiate an R&D collaboration and broader licensing rights related to MDRNA’s RNAi drug delivery platform. Terms of this separate agreement were not disclosed.
Michael French, president and CEO of MDRNA, said: “MDRNA’s DiLA2 technology for siRNA delivery is effective and efficient at silencing gene targets in the liver and jejunum. Further, the in vivo tolerability of the DiLA2 technology is excellent.
“We have not observed any delivery related adverse effects in the liver as measured by typical serum chemistries or any significant increases in cytokine levels, which are hallmarks of cell damage. We view this license as yet another important validation of our siRNA technologies and we look forward to a strong and growing relationship with Novartis.”