RXi Pharmaceuticals, a developer of RNAi therapeutics, has decided to expand its focus beyond gene silencing by acquiring the privately held cancer immunotherapy company Apthera and its promising clinical-stage cancer vaccine, NeuVax™. NeuVax is expected to enter Phase III in the first half of 2012 for low-to-intermediate HER2+ breast cancer patients not eligible for Herceptin® (trastuzumab). RXi agreed to issue approximately 4.8 million shares of its common stock to Apthera shareholders, equating to an upfront consideration of approximately US$7.2 M. Apthera shareholders will also be entitled to receive up to US$32 M in potential milestone payments related to NeuVax.