Benitec's big Bio splash

Until this week, Benitec (ASX: BLT) was a small, virtually unsung Queensland biotech company. But that changed at this week's Bio 2002 conference in Toronto, where the company showcased its gene silencing technology, which it claims will revolutionise gene control.

Benitec's technology uses RNA interference (RNAi) - a natural cellular process - to specifically silence problem genes.

A double-stranded RNA, with the sequence of one strand matching the targeted mRNA, is delivered to the cell and sets off a cellular process that destroys the mRNA, effectively silencing the gene by preventing the expression of its protein.

"This technology is unique," said chairman and CEO John McKinley. He explained that the platform could potentially be as broadly applicable as PCR, the technique that revolutionised molecular biology in the late 1980s.

"It is magnificent in its simplicity, in its use of natural cell function. It will not need complex delivery systems," McKinley said.

According to a report published by Btech Investor Reports in November 2001, RNAi gene silencing has been reported as being more than 1000 times more effective than antisense approaches.

Benitec's director of research and technology, Ken Reed, said that potential applications for the technology included using it to knock out genes for therapeutic purposes, to allow treatment of a broad range of infectious and non-infectious diseases.

In addition, gene silencing can be used as a tool to discover gene function, he said.

Benitec, which counts Institute for Molecular Bioscience co-director John Mattick as a non-executive director, has established a broad patent position for RNAi applications in partnership with the Queensland Department of Primary Industry (DPI).

McKinley said that while the first Australian patent was granted earlier this year, the company had priority dates for patents filed in the US and other key international markets.

"The technology we have and the way it is expressed in the patents covers plants, animals and humans," said McKinley.

"We have held a priority position on patents since 1998."

He said that while a number of groups held RNAi patents, Benitec had a dominant position in human and animal uses for the technology. RNAi is also used extensively in plants to develop disease resistant crop and horticultural varieties.

According to McKinley, Benitec has spent the last couple of years strengthening and securing its IP and now is ready to begin forming collaborations and partnerships with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to expand and develop the platform technology.

The company has received a number of enquiries about the technology in the last few months, he said. It also earned considerable interest at Bio 2002.

McKinley emphasised that Benitec was not a straight research company, and would be looking at a number of approaches to commercialise RNAi.

"We want to provide big pharmaceutical and biotech companies with the technology, and we would like to work alongside these companies in developing it," McKinley explained.

The USA will be the main target for Benitec's commercialisation push, especially for human applications, he said.

But he added that Benitec would remain based in Australia and would continue to work with the DPI on applications for Australia.

Benitec has also become an ASX-listed company using an existing public company as a vehicle to the share market. They expect to be admitted to trading in the next few weeks, McKinley said.

He praised the support given to Benitec by the Queensland government.

"It's not easy for a company that has been previously unknown to break into the world market," McKinley said.