Benitec Ltd, a leading Australian based company specialising in RNA interference (RNAi) technology, has announced that the US patent application for “RNAi Expression Constructs” has been successfully granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as US Patent No. 7,803,611.

The grant covers an RNAi construct solely owned by Benitec with a single promoter for targeting hepatitis C virus to inhibit the level of hepatitis C virus in cells, tissues and organs. The USPTO has also granted Benitec an additional 925 days patent term in recognition of the delays in examining the patent application.

Benitec’s chief executive officer Dr Peter French said “The granting of this US patent nicely complements one of Benitec’s other US patents (US Patent 7727970 “Multiple promoter expression cassettes for simultaneous delivery of RNAi agents targeted to hepatitis C virus”) which was granted in June 2010 for the use of a construct with multiple promoters, also for inhibiting the level of Hepatitis C virus in cells, tissues and organs.”

Benitec has licensed the rights to use both of these patents for hepatitis C exclusively to Tacere Therapeutics, Inc. who are working with Pfizer to develop and commercialise Tacere’s hepatitis C compounds.

Tacere Therapeutics’ chief executive officer Sara Hall stated “US protection of our compound is extremely important within the field of RNAi. Benitec has been a strong ally in prosecuting these patent estates and Tacere and Pfizer look forward to clinical development and commercialisation of this first-in-class drug”.

Dr French added “This patent grant also provides further validation of Benitec’s RNAi technology and is a key addition to our already strong patent portfolio. Our focus continues to be the creation of opportunities to further develop and commercialise this technology.”

Benitec is an Australian biotechnology company focused on licensing its extensive intellectual property portfolio and developing therapeutics to treat serious diseases using its proprietary ddRNAi technology.