REHOVOT, Israel ¿ AVI BioPharma Inc., of Portland, Ore., and XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. signed an agreement to evaluate and co-develop therapeutics for hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

¿This is another of XTL¿s non-exclusive agreements in which we will make available to AVI our proprietary TrimeraXTL animal models to test AVI¿s proprietary NeuGene antisense compounds against HBV and HCV,¿ said Zachi Berger, COO of XTL.

XTL, of Rehovot, will co-develop and receive royalties on compounds identified in the collaboration. Further financial terms were not disclosed.

XTL¿s TrimeraXTL system provides unique animal test models incorporating human tissue and human hepatitis infection for evaluation of potential therapeutics. Normally, animals are not susceptible to human hepatitis infection, a fact that has hampered testing of promising new drugs for HBV and HCV.

AVI¿s antisense NeuGene oligonucleotides will be tested in XTL¿s models as potential therapeutics for HBV and HCV.

¿Naturally, we expect that we can provide the information needed to bring AVI¿s proprietary gene-targeting antisense therapeutics into human trials more quickly,¿ said Martin Becker, PhD, president and CEO of XTL. ¿Early evaluation reduces the financial risk in drug development.¿