Shares in biotechnology group Benitec received a boost on Friday after Sigma-Aldrich, the exclusive licensee of its gene silencing technology, DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi), announced it had granted global pharmaceutical group Pfizer a worldwide non-exclusive research licence to use the technology. Gene silencing is used in drug development by the pharmaceutical industry, and ddRNAi is considered to have advantages over some of the alternative gene silencing technologies.

"This brings revenues into Sigma-Aldrich, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Benitec," said Benitec chief executive Sue MacLeman.