Pfizer to expand RNA drug research partnership with Santaris

Pfizer has agreed to expand its ongoing collaboration with Santaris Pharma on the development of new RNA-targeted medicines.

The newly-revised deal will see Pfizer pay $14 million (9.04 million pounds) for access to Santaris' locked nucleic acid (LNA) drug platform for use in the creation of new medical products.

Santaris' LNA technology allows for the development of molecules that inhibit RNA targets in different tissues without needing complex delivery vehicles, with both mRNA and microRNA-targeted drugs based on the platform currently in clinical trials.

The partnership, which was originally formed in 2009 between Santaris and the now Pfizer-owned Wyeth, has been expanded based on the progress seen in the companies' ongoing oligonucleotide collaboration.

Mikael Dolsten, president of worldwide research and development at Pfizer, said: "The expansion of our collaboration with Santaris Pharma demonstrates our strategic intention to partner with innovative biopharm/biotech companies to explore novel drug design technologies as a potential source for breakthrough therapeutics."

In November 2010, Pfizer announced a new partnership with molecular diagnostics company SIRS-Lab that will focus on research into new sepsis treatments.