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Benitec to develop Hepatitis C drug
Benitec Ltd has entered into a license agreement with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc to develop and commercialise its Hepatitis C virus (HCV) compound.

Under the terms of the agreement between Benitec's San Francisco-based license company, Tacere Therapeutics Inc, and Pfizer, the pair will form a joint steering committee to oversee the pre-clinical research and development for the compound known as TT-033.

The compound is a therapeutic product containing three separate RNAi elements targeted against the Hepatitis C virus.

Pfizer will fund all aspects of the collaboration, and will have exclusive worldwide rights, excluding all Asian countries, to commercialise products that result from the collaboration.

"This deal is a validation of the Benitec ddRNAi expressed approach for treating chronic infectious diseases from the world's biggest pharmaceutical company," Benitec chief executive Sue MacLeman said.

"This is the first expressed RNAi drug to be partnered with a major pharmaceutical company and it is a resounding commercial validation of Benitec's technology."

Tacere will be eligible for milestone payments which could reach as much as $US145 million ($A166.81 million).

Upon commercialisation Tacere will also be entitled to royalties on net sales by Pfizer.

"Benitec retains rights to all human therapeutic applications of its ddRNAi technology and is actively exploring licensing opportunities," it said.

Benitec shares ended the day up 7.5 cents, or 71.43 per cent, at 18 cents.