AstraZeneca to discover and develop siRNA therapeutics for Cardiovascular, Renal, Metabolic and Respiratory diseases in new collaboration

Collaboration with Silence Therapeutics aims to develop novel, targeted treatments to address significant unmet need

AstraZeneca will collaborate with Silence Therapeutics to discover, develop and commercialise small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics for the treatment of Cardiovascular, Renal, Metabolic and Respiratory diseases.

This multi-target collaboration will harness Silence’s established siRNA platform to identify and progress liver-based targets, as well as developing new delivery approaches for targeting other tissues such as the heart, lung and kidney. Targeted delivery to these other tissues represents a new opportunity to treat Cardiovascular, Renal, Metabolic and Respiratory diseases.

Mene Pangalos, EVP BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca said “This collaboration with Silence adds an exciting new modality, siRNA, into our drug discovery toolbox. Importantly we can apply this drug modality across our key therapy areas in cardiovascular, renal and metabolism and respiratory to target novel pathways not amenable to more traditional drug discovery approaches.”

Iain Ross, Executive Chairman at Silence said “We are delighted to announce this collaboration with AstraZeneca as it is a further validation of our proprietary siRNA platform. It not only provides us with an opportunity to collaborate on specific liver expressed gene targets but also to work with a leading company to achieve targeted delivery of siRNA molecules to other tissues including heart, kidney and lung.”

Small interfering RNA (siRNA)

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) are double-stranded RNA molecules that offer new opportunities for therapeutic intervention because they act inside the cell to influence protein production. They do this by targeting RNA to prevent the production of disease-causing proteins.¹

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism, and Respiratory. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visit astrazeneca.com and follow the Company on Twitter @AstraZeneca.

Contacts

For details on how to contact the Investor Relations Team, please click here. For Media contacts, click here.

References

1. Dana H Chalbatani GM, Mahmoodzadeh H et al. Int J Biomed Sci. 2017; 13(2): 48–57