Archemix grants rights to Japanese firm

Archemix Corp., a Cambridge biotechnology company, has granted a Japanese bio-venture company intellectual property rights in developing aptamers, short nucleic acid sequences.

The agreement with Tokyo-based Ribomic Inc. will give Archemix an upfront payment of $6 million. Ribomic has the option to convert the licenses from nonexclusive to exclusive on a target-by-target basis, upon payment of an added fee. If this happens, Archemix could receive milestone payments and a royalty on any marketed products developed under the agreement. The total milestone payments could exceed $200 million. Other terms of the deal were not released. Aptamers are therapeutic agents that may help treat a variety of human diseases, according to Archemix.
(By Elizabeth Campbell, Globe correspondent)