Technology - Intellectual Property Intellectual Property and Issued Patent Estate Several years before the global scientific community accepted the reality of RNAi in mammalian cells, Benitec was the first to show the universality of RNAi by demonstrating the down-regulation of target gene expression in human and mammalian cells, inventing a reliable means of triggering the RNAi process using DNA constructs. Benitec's core patents and patent rights are based on this early research and are supported by subsequent filings that extend the scope and jurisdiction of its intellectual property.
Benitec's patent estate represents a dominant position in DNA-directed gene silencing, and potentially the dominant position in RNAi applications for humans and mammals. Benitec has over 60 filed patents and has licensed several additional patents that extend the scope of its patent estate and enhance the utility and value of ddRNAi.
Benitec's main patented technology is DNA-directed RNAi, whereby transiently transfected or stably integrated DNA constructs are transcribed to form double-stranded RNA that induces gene silencing. The issued claims cover the design of such DNA constructs, whether they are inverted repeats coding for hairpin RNA or sense and antisense sequences under the control of separate promoters and regardless of the means of delivery.
On June 4 and 5, 2003, Benitec was awarded the first US and UK patents for the application of RNA interference to mammalian cells. Benitec's ddRNAi patent estate currently comprises 10 issued patents, covering 19 jurisdictions.
In addition to its patents, Benitec has significant proprietary know-how in the design, development and production of constructs, tools and high throughput methodologies for the use and practice of RNA interference.
Extract from Companies & Markets, Jain PharmaBiotech, August 2006 RNAi patents - Among the companies, Alnylam and Benitec have strong patent positions.
On 5 June 2003, Benitec Ltd was granted its core technology patents in the US and the UK. These patents, with priority dating to 1998, describe a method for silencing any gene in any cell using ddRNAi. US Patent 6,573,099 is entitled "Genetic constructs for delaying or repressing the expression of a target gene" and UK Patent 2353282 is entitled "Control of gene expression". Both patents contain world first claims that describe the effect of RNAi in human cells and the DNA constructs which trigger RNAi.
Benitec Ltd, originally founded in Australia in 1997 (listed on Australian Stock Exchange), pioneered ddRNAi and was the first company to demonstrate RNAi in human cells. It holds a dominant international intellectual property position in RNAi...
Benitec's technology has the potential to treat human disease as a form of gene therapy. The types of diseases amenable to treatment with the company's gene silencing technology include; cancers where the shutdown of oncogenes can lead to disease remission; autoimmune disorders where the knockdown of specific immune system genes can reverse the disease process; and chronic degenerative viral infections where programming cells to silence critical viral genes can prevent infection.
There is a lot in the pot here.
The Patents (many in USA) are numerous, so if you want detail, pse go to www.benitec.com.au.
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