18th Jul 2019 13:23
(Alliance News) - New York-listed Mallinckrodt PLC has invested USD5 million into Silence Therapeutics PLC, the two announced on Thursday, as part of a collaboration worth potentially hundreds of millions of US dollars.
The deal will give biopharmaceutical firm Mallinckrodt a 6.5% stake in Silence, after taking 5.1 million new shares at a price of 79 pence each. Silence shares were 60% higher on Thursday afternoon at 133.68 pence each.
Mallinckrodt Chief Scientific Officer Steven Romano will be joining the Silence board as part of the deal.
The investment comes alongside a collaboration between the two firms, which will see the develop and commercial RNA interference drug targets designed to inhibit a group of proteins which play a role in inflammation.
Mallinckrodt will provide an upfront payment of USD20 million for an exclusive licence for Silence's SLN500 product, with options for two more licences. Mallinckrodt could end up paying USD100 million depending on regulatory milestones being met for SLN500, and up to USD563 million based on commercial milestones.
Silence Chief Executive David Horn Solomon said: "This collaboration combines Silence Therapeutics' knowledge and world-class research and development in the field of RNAi with Mallinckrodt's expertise and resources as a global biopharmaceutical company with years of experience solving complex challenges."
"The increasing number of clinical conditions and pathologies that involve the complement system has generated significant interest in the development of therapeutic options to inhibit complement activation, which holds great promise in treating a range of diseases. We look forward to working closely with Mallinckrodt to extend our capabilities with RNAi therapies that have the potential to transform patients' lives."
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