Silence Therapeutics expands IP portfolio with latest Zamore RNAi patent

Silence Therapeutics (LON:SLN) reported the issue of a patent in the US - entitled "Methods and Compositions for Controlling Efficacy of RNA Silencing" - which generally claims methods of enhancing RNA silencing with a double stranded RNA interference (RNAi) agent.

The patent is the fourth to be issued from the three "Zamore Design Rule" patent families - which are exclusively licensed to Silence from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

Silence believes the structural modification techniques covered in the patent will play a key role in increasing the potential therapeutic efficacy of RNAi therapeutics. 
The patent's RNA silencing method claims include coverage for the administering of a pharmaceutical composition containing short interfering RNA (siRNA), micro RNA (miRNA), pre-miRNA or short hairpin (shRNA) molecules. 

“We believe that the Zamore technology is fundamental for the development and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics with enhanced efficacy and we expect there will be increased interest for licensing deals from a number of companies working in this area," Silence Therapeutics chief executive Philip Haworth said.

"Importantly, our efforts to continue to build value around the Zamore patent estate are not limited to the US.  We expect to add additional protection to the Zamore technology with the issuance of a European patent directed to the 'Zamore Design Rules.'"

The "Zamore Design Rules" are based on seminal research, carried out by Phillip D. Zamore, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  Silence noted that it expects additional patent issuances related to the Zamore portfolio in the future.  

Furthermore, Silence said it is executing a proactive strategy to continue to build and strengthen its intellectual property portfolio, to provide the company and its partners with “a strong proprietary position in the RNAi therapeutics space”. 

Silence expects to make significant progress in these efforts, as it expects a number of additional valuable RNAi patents to be issued in both the US and Europe during 2010. 

The company's global patent portfolio currently contains issued patents and pending applications covering strategic areas of RNAi therapeutic development - including multiple proprietary siRNA delivery technologies, potent siRNA sequences specific for high-value disease targets, and key RNAi sequence and chemical modifications.