CytRx affiliate buys RNAi delivery tech

Maureen Martino — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:31:57 -0400

CytRx's affiliate RXi Pharmaceuticals has licensed exclusive rights to technology that could allow for the oral delivery of RNAi therapeutics. CytRx says the technology, which was licensed from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, will be used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, Crohn's disease, atherosclerosis, psoriasis and Type II diabetes. Oral delivery would give CytRx and RXi a competitive advantage since many of the current inflammatory disease treatments require an injection or infusion. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The development of technology that potentially enables oral delivery represents a truly dramatic advance for the field of RNAi therapeutics, and could open up significant market opportunities for RXi. We view this license as a major step toward our goal of developing such drugs as it allows us to potentially target a new class of cells that cannot be accessed either by traditional RNAi delivery methods, local administration or injection," said Tod Woolf, CEO of RXi Pharmaceuticals.

- see this press release

CytRx inks deal to buy Innovive in $21M acquisition

John Carroll — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:54:10 -0400

CytRx has inked a deal to buy Innovive Pharmaceuticals, adding its four experimental oncology therapies to its pipeline. The combined company will own a 49 perent interest in RXi Pharmaceuticals. The deal is priced at $21.3 million plus the assumption of liabilities. The combined company will advance therapies for oncology, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, stroke recovery and diabetic foot ulcers.

"The Innovive acquisition is a compelling strategic fit for CytRx and is expected to provide several key benefits. Innovive has an attractive oncology portfolio with the opportunity for relatively near-term drug approval with low regulatory risk," said Steven A. Kriegsman, CytRx president and CEO. "This acquisition improves our potential for near-term revenue while maintaining our longer-term emphasis on our molecular chaperone technology platform. The addition of this pipeline leverages our significant expertise in oncology drug development."

- read the CytRx's release