Benitec Licenses RNAi Technology from Stanford University

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (GenomeWeb News) - Benitec has obtained an exclusive license to use StanfordUniversity's Minicircle DNA technology, the company said last week.

Terms of the agreement allow Benitec to use the technology "for all RNAi therapeutic uses, with sub-licensing rights."

Minicircles was developed by Mark Kay, professor of pediatrics and genetics at Stanford, and a consultant to Benitec. It enables gene expression "up to 500 times greater" than with traditional plasmid DNA, according to Benitec.

"This license advances Benitec's ability to build effective RNAi therapeutics for our in-house disease programs and supports our pathfinder approach to the overall development of RNAi therapeutics," the company said in a statement. "We will ... continue to identify in-licensing opportunities for Benitec in delivery methods and clinical targets from other leading centers of innovation in both the United Statesand abroad."