From BLT's websiteOn 5 June 2003, Benitec Ltd was granted its...

From BLT's website

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.

So their core patents expire in 2018.

I wasn't aware of the extension, so if this is the case, then add 18 months. I thought it was a different patent but your probably right Hoyland.

It doesn't give them much time, but according to BLT, drug candidates can be developed in a matter of months. It will be interesting to see how quickly they have the pain candidate ready.