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news.US-based biopharmaceutical firm Arrowhead Research has acquired Swiss firm Novartis' complete RNAi research and development portfolio and associated assets.
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The acquisition includes assignment of certain patents and patent applications owned or controlled by the Swiss firm related to RNAi therapeutics.
The deal also comprises of an exclusive license in the RNAi field to other patents and patent applications owned or controlled by Novartis, assignment of a third party license, three pre-clinical RNAi candidates and other related assets.
As part of the deal, Novartis has already received $7m in cash and is eligible to provide an additional payment of $3m in cash and $25m in Arrowhead common stock within 30 days.
Arrowhead president and chief executive officer Christopher Anzalone said: "Novartis has been working in the RNAi field for over a decade and their developments in proprietary oligonucleotide formatting and modifications are some of the best we’ve seen.
"We anticipate this acquisition will provide us with substantially expanded freedom to operate, proprietary technology that appears to enhance the activity of RNAi triggers, access to non-delivery Alnylam RNAi IP for 30 targets, and three programs that went through the rigorous Novartis vetting process.
"We now have additional flexibility to optimize each new candidate using the most effective RNAi-trigger design and modifications. We look forward to incorporating these novel technologies into future drug candidates."
Major aspects of the acquisition include multiple patent families covering RNAi-trigger design rules and modifications that fall outside of key patents controlled by competitors, new intracellular targeting ligands that improve the activity of RNAi-triggers by targeting the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) more effectively and improving stability once RISC is loaded.
The deal also includes an assignment of Novartis’ license from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals granting Arrowhead access to Alnylam intellectual property, excluding delivery, for 30 gene targets chosen by Novartis.
Image: Novartis headquarters in Basel Switzerland. Photo: courtesy of Andrew.