RXi Pharmaceuticals and MirImmune have entered into an exclusive license agreement for RXi's novel and proprietary sd-rxRNA technology for use in developing innovative cell-based cancer immunotherapies. The collaboration has the potential to result in novel, more effective and patient friendly cancer treatments that could be a significant step toward personalized medicine .

Under the terms of the agreement, MirImmune will be responsible for all research, development, manufacturing, regulatory and commercialization activities for the licensed products. It will develop cell-based therapeutics utilizing RXi's sd-rxRNA technology to target immune inhibitory pathways, which are responsible for limiting the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies. According to the terms, MirImmune will gain access to RXi's sd-rxRNA and rxRNAori patent families for ex vivo modification of cells for the treatment of cancer. These patents include the composition of the sd-rxRNA and rxRNAori RNAi structures, as well as potential targets for cell-based therapeutics.

As consideration for this license, RXi will receive an annual licensing fee, clinical milestone payments, sublicensing income and single digit royalties. Pending MirImmune's achievement of a few gating milestones, RXi will have the right to acquire a double-digit equity stake in MirImmune.