MSD acquires Sirna Therapeutics

Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) has announced that it has completed a transaction acquiring Sirna Therapeutics. The acquisition follows a vote by the shareholders of that company approving the transaction.

Sirna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology firm that develops treatments for a number of diseases based on (RNA interference) RNAi. These conditions include hepatitis C, asthma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and others.

RNAi is a cellular mechanism involving double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) to interfere with genes with complementary sequences to dsRNA. Sirna has an RNAi portfoilio that includes 250 gene and viral targets with 200 patents issued or pending.

Prior to this acquisition, Sirna Therapeutics completed phase I clinical studies for Sirna-027 for the treatment of AMD with Allergan and announced the development into phase II clinical trials.

The company also has an exclusive partnership agreement with GlaxoSmithKline for the development of RNAi compounds to treat respiratory illnesses.

It announced that it would be acquired by MSD “at a price of $13 (6.59 pounds) per share in cash, for an aggregate equity purchase price of approximately $1.1 billion.”

MSD had previously announced its intention to acquire Sirna Pharmaceuticals at this in October 2006.

The company reported that this acquisition would compliment its own “cutting edge” research on the expression of RNA that it had been conducting for the last five years following its previous acquisition of Rosetta Inpharmatics.