ValiRx Plc (LON:VAL) has unveiled a double deal – an acquisition and an outline joint-venture agreement.
The former first: the company is buying for a nominal sum patents and intellectual property formerly owned by a Finnish company called FIT Biotech.
In the same announcement shareholders were told ValiRx had signed a letter of intent with corporate financier Alpha Blue Ocean outlining the terms of a therapeutic and diagnostic-based collaboration.
ValiRx will provide the scientific, technological and clinical development expertise and ABO will focus on financing and commercial activities.
The AIM-listed drug discovery group will add its GeneICE technology and its gene silencing compound, VAL101, to the planned joint-venture as well as the assets being acquired from the administrators of FIT.
"The area of genetic editing is a very topical subject area at the moment in the media as gene editing looks set to transform the way we battle a range of diseases,” said Dr Satu Vainikka, chief executive of ValiRx.
“The IP assets of FIT Biotech complement well ValiRx's existing gene-based technologies and their combination will assist the Group in leveraging its position within this medical marketplace.”