MOUNT PLEASANT, MI, (Jan. 25, 2005) – Dendritic NanoTechnologies Inc. (DNT), The Dow Chemical Company, and Starpharma of Melbourne, Australia, have reached an agreement that provides DNT and Starpharma with ownership or access to the world’s broadest patent portfolio in the field of dendrimers, and establishes the companies as leading providers of market-validated nanotechnology with near-term, tangible commercial applications.Under terms of the deal, Dow will assign its entire intellectual property portfolio and associated royalties in the field of dendrimers (196 patents comprising 41 patent families) to DNT in exchange for a significant equity stake in DNT. Starpharma, which already held a 42% interest in DNT, will make an additional cash equity investment in DNT in exchange for exclusive rights to DNT and former Dow intellectual property for polyvalent, dendrimer-based pharmaceutical applications.
“As part of this agreement, Dow has assigned all of our extensive intellectual property in this field to DNT,” explained Mike Pirc, manager of intellectual property, The Dow Chemical Company. “This move consolidates a great amount of the important intellectual property in the dendrimer field into one company. It will be very positive for developing the applications and further demonstrating the value of this technology.”
“Having an investment by Dow not only highlights DNT’s position as a global leader in nanotechnology and advanced dendritic polymers, but also means opportunities for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets,” said Robert Berry, chief executive officer, Dendritic NanoTechnologies. “The fact that Dow is transferring their intellectual property portfolio in dendrimers to DNT reinforces that DNT, and our strategic partner Starpharma, are well-positioned to develop, market and successfully commercialize these technologies.”
Dendrimers are a new class of nanostructures with physical properties that make them ideal vehicles for targeting diseases and delivering drugs to fight them. Dendrimer technology was first developed at Dow when DNT founder Donald Tomalia was a Dow employee. Today, DNT has more than 30 patents in dendrimer science, and sells and licenses more than 200 variations of dendrimers to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies.DNT’s current product development areas include protein, antibody, and anti-inflammatory drug delivery technologies for the pharmaceutical industry; small-interfering RNA (si-RNA) drug targeting and delivery solutions for the biotech industry; and new diagnostic solutions for enhancing the findings of MRIs. With the assignment of the Dow patent portfolio, DNT will now own the world’s broadest intellectual property position in dendrimer science.
