Ashurst has advised on its first healthcare deal of 2010
for long-standing client Silence Therapeutics plc
which has acquired Palo Alto-based Intradigm
Corporation.
The transaction comprised a reverse takeover under the
AIM Rules together with a Rule 9 whitewash, and included a £15
million equity fundraising through a placing and subscription
to corporate investors and major pharmaceutical
companies.
It is intended that the enlarged group, retaining the name
Silence Therapeutics, will form a leading company in the
field of RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi, the discovery of
which earned a Nobel Prize in 2006, is a natural cellular process
of gene silencing that occurs in almost all organisms.
Working through short interefering RNA (siRNA) it induces
sequence-specific silencing of target disease genes which, in turn,
prevent the production of disease causing proteins. As such,
RNAi is a fundamentally different approach to disease management as
compared to more traditional or current therapeutics, which many
believe offers significant and exciting therapeutics
potential. The enlarged group will possess multiple RNAi
discovery, development and delivery technologies, an advancing
internal and partnered product pipeline and a broad portfolio of
intellectual property, with the potential to facilitate
more deals of greater value with the pharmaceutical industry.
The Ashurst team was led by corporate
partner Anthony Clare,
assisted by senior associate Shona Power, associate Rajvir
Jheeta and trainee Cecily Carroll. Partner Caroline Carter advised on
employment matters, with partner Paul Randall and associate Andrew
Patterson advising on employee incentives.