BOTHELL, Wash., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. ("Nastech") announced today that it has assigned (i) certain Nastech licenses to third-party intellectual property and (ii) Nastech's own intellectual property, as such intellectual property relates to the development of RNA-based therapeutics, to its subsidiary, MDRNA, Inc. ("MDRNA").
"The transfer of intellectual property rights for RNA-based therapeutics from Nastech to MDRNA is an important step in the process of creating MDRNA as an independent company. We believe MDRNA independence will ultimately enhance Nastech shareholder value," stated Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO of Nastech. "The MDRNA intellectual property estate includes rights to patents and patent applications covering technologies for the development and delivery of RNA-based therapeutics as well as their use in treating diseases. We believe that this agreement provides a strong foundation for MDRNA and will be important in attracting external funding for MDRNA."
About Nastech's Intellectual Property (IP)
The intellectual property estate includes rights to issued and pending patent applications relating to RNA-based therapeutics which have broad claims on their development, delivery and use in treating diseases.
Nastech's own IP related to RNA-based therapeutics and diagnostics include the following published patent applications:
Nastech is also a licensee on a non-exclusive basis to Fire and Mello (U.S. Patent No. 6,506,559) patents and patent applications describing the fundamental use of double-stranded RNA to induce RNA interference.
Nastech is the exclusive licensee in the field of influenza virus and respiratory disease for many patent applications owned by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including the following published applications:
Additionally, Nastech has exclusive and non-exclusive rights under a license in the field of dicer substrates for patent applications owned by City of Hope.
About Nastech's RNA-Based Therapeutics Programs
Nastech has several product candidates currently in preclinical development including programs targeting influenza and rheumatoid arthritis. Nastech has engaged in collaborations with commercial, academic and governmental organizations including an ongoing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on evaluating RNAi therapeutics for treatment of influenza.
About RNA Interference (RNAi)
RNA interference, or RNAi, is a cellular mechanism that can be used to turn off the production of a protein by using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). siRNAs are double-stranded RNA molecules that are able to silence a gene in a sequence-specific manner by degradation of the target messenger RNA. In the case of an siRNA directed against influenza, the target is one or more genes that encode proteins critical for viral replication. If siRNAs are successful at turning off the production of such proteins, the spread of infection would be prevented or slowed. Nastech's RNAi research and development programs seek to develop safe and effective therapeutics by identifying key protein targets, designing the siRNA that will turn off the production of the targeted proteins, and developing a formulation for the delivery of this potential new class of therapeutics.
About Nastech
Nastech is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative products based on proprietary molecular biology-based drug delivery technologies. Nastech and our collaboration partners are developing products for multiple therapeutic areas including osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, autism, respiratory diseases and inflammatory conditions. Additional information about Nastech is available at http://www.nastech.com.
About MDRNA, Inc.
MDRNA, a company developing innovative products based on RNA-based technologies, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nastech. Discovery of the biological process of RNA interference (RNAi) garnered the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2006, and holds tremendous potential as a basis for human therapeutics. Nastech began work on RNAi in 2002 and has assigned its intellectual property, as it relates to the development of RNA-based therapeutics, to MDRNA in order to bring greater focus on the development of RNA-based technologies and enhance shareholder value arising from this exciting new field. Additional information about MDRNA is available at http://www.mdrnainc.com.
Nastech Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Federal Securities laws that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) the ability of Nastech to obtain additional funding; (ii) the ability of Nastech to attract and/or maintain manufacturing, research, development and commercialization partners; (iii) Nastech's and/or a partner's ability to successfully complete product research and development, including preclinical and clinical studies and commercialization; (iv) Nastech's and/or a partner's ability to obtain required governmental approvals; and (v) Nastech's and/or a partner's ability to develop and commercialize products that can compete favorably with those of competitors. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements are contained in Nastech's most recent periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nastech assumes no obligation to update and supplement forward-looking statements because of subsequent events.
ir@nastech.com
CONTACT: Ed Bell, Director, Investor Relations of Nastech,
+1-425-908-3639, ir@nastech.com; David Schull of Russo Partners, LLC,
+1-212-845-4271, for Nastech
Web site: http://www.nastech.com/
http://www.mdrnainc.com/
