Abbottt and Dharmacon, a unit of Fisher Biosciences, entered into a collaboration to develop new therapeutic agents based on gene-silencing technology of RNA interference (RNAi). “The research could extend drug discovery efforts for the two companies into disease targets where traditional discovery technologies have not been successful,” says William Marshall, vp technology and business development at Dharmacon.
As part of the collaboration, Abbott and Dharmacon will work to identify therapeutic siRNAs for multiple therapeutic areas, initially focusing on oncology. “Dharmacon’s siRNA chemistries, SMART selection, and SMARTpool® technologies and its specificity-enhancing design modifications will be used to optimize siRNAs for therapeutic use,” adds Marshall. Abbott will manage the drug discovery and development process and will be responsible for commercialization of products that result from the collaboration.