will merck pay 300 million us for benitec , page-29

I agree with Orga and drafter and others that this is indeed a very valuable IP they have. I would say its worth at least several billion dollars if one wants to put a money value on it. I also think about the number of lives this could potentially save or improve. Hope Benitec wins that court battle. All big companies know, that for doing gene-therapy with RNA interference they would need this patent or a licence. Even Alnylam has a licence just in case. What Alnylam currently tries to develop is the application of naked RNA strands to the body and look for interference. Their problem is the delivery of that RNA and the subsequent stability in the body. After a while its gone and you have to get another shot. Also side effects are possible. These problems are not really solved yet and it might take a long time for that. Dna-directed RNA however can be delivered by the same vehicles eg viruses, which are the target for destruction. Once the gene for the RNA is in place it will constantly produce RNA and therefore will shut down harmful genes as long as the cell lives (gene therapy). This is why this patent is so valuable. Dont get me wrong, with ddRNAi there are also problems especially the dosis of this RNA is crucial and too much of it results in death (as shown in mouse experiments). But thats something which science will deal with and I am shure this problem will be solved sooner or later.
Although I hope Benitec can develop towards being a large company and eventually make shareholders very rich I rather tend to believe this IP, should Benitec ever be the definite holder, will be bought by a bigger fish

Cheers and good luck to holders
Sb