Aug 25 2009
Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces today that it has entered into a research-based collaboration with Santaris Pharma A/S, a leading player in RNA-based therapeutics, to develop its proprietary Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology in a range of rare diseases, thereby enabling Shire to build on its already strong competitive position for its Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) business. LNA technology has the benefit of a very quick validated target to proof of concept turnaround, thereby increasing the speed and lowering the cost of development.
Currently, Shire HGT has a unique and successful platform producing human cell derived enzyme replacement therapies (ERTs) for a wide range of rare human genetic disorders.
Sylvie Gregoire, President of Shire HGT, comments, "With this novel platform technology Shire has the potential to move into a wider range of genetic orphan diseases. We will look to develop treatments for people with a variety of rare life-altering and life-threatening conditions that to date, could not be effectively addressed by enzyme replacement therapy."
As part of the joint research project Santaris Pharma A/S will design, develop and deliver pre-clinical LNA oligonucleotides specific for the selected Shire targets, and Shire will have the right to further develop and commercialize these candidate compounds on a worldwide basis.
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