EPO grants SR Pharma core RNAi patent

SR Pharma, a leading European RNAi therapeutics company, says that the European Patent Office has granted its core RNAi patent, EP 03784183.0. This covers its novel, stabilized, small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules with blunt ends and positional modifications. These proprietary siRNA molecules are referred to as "AtuRNAi" by SR Pharma.

This is the first patent to be granted for this new class of stable siRNA molecules and provides SR Pharma with freedom to operate within the RNAi therapeutics field. The 38 claims in the patent cover AtuRNAi structures that have a well-defined positional arrangement of modified nucleotides.

These AtuRNAi compounds form the basis of SR Pharma's own therapeutic development pipeline which is focused on cancer indications. The company's first clinical trials in the cancer field are expected to start in 2007. These molecules also form the basis of the group's licence and collaboration agreement with Quark Biotech and the recently announced sublicense to Pfizer, whose Phase I clinical trial in age-related macular degeneration using these molecules is expected to start in the near future.