Marina Biotech acquires RNA assets of Novosom
Buys patent rights to Smarticles technology
Marina Biotech has acquired the rights to Novosom’s Smarticles liposomal-based delivery technology.
The deal expands US biotechnology firm Marina's RNA delivery technologies, which now include DiLA2, tkRNAi and peptide nanoparticle technologies, in addition to the Smarticles liposomal delivery platform.
Marina agreed to provide US$5m of its common stock in exchange for the rights to use Smarticles. Further terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
‘We believe that this technology and intellectual property estate, resulting from years of hard work and diligent IP prosecution on the part of Novosom, is a significant addition to our existing RNA delivery platforms,’ said Michael French, chief executive of Marina Biotech.
‘We plan to take full advantage of our new IP position by expanding our existing delivery capability to develop additional novel formulations for safe and effective systemic and local delivery of RNAi-based therapeutics.’
The IP acquired from Halle, Germany based Novosom represents a global portfolio of 42 issued or allowed patents and 31 pending patent applications providing broad coverage for liposomal delivery formulations, lipid compounds and nucleic acid chemistry.
