Shire and Santaris extend rare genetic disease partnership

Shire and Santaris Pharma have announced that they will be extending their existing partnership in the rare genetic disease space to cover a new area of research.

The new work will take advantage of Santaris' LNA drug platform and drug discovery engine, which combines proprietary LNA chemistry with highly specialised and targeted drug development capabilities to rapidly deliver LNA-based drug candidates against RNA targets.

Through this method, the partners will be able to create new therapies for cardiometabolic disorders, infectious and inflammatory diseases, cancer and rare genetic disorders.

Shire will have the right to nominate additional collaboration targets for drug discovery and development, with Santaris receiving an upfront fee, research funding support and milestone-based payments.

Albert Seymour, vice-president for discovery research at Shire, said: "Our hope is that the partnership will eventually translate into novel drugs that will help patients suffering from debilitating rare diseases lead better lives."

Last month, Shire announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2013, during which it experienced a six percent year-on-year increase in revenues.