Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Warner-Lambert Co.'s Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Division extended their collaborationin the area of osteoarthritis, Ribozyme said Thursday.

The collaboration, which began in April 1993, was extended for oneyear, with renewal options after that, said Ralph Christoffersen,president and CEO of Ribozyme. Parke-Davis, of Ann Arbor, Mich.,made an additional equity investment in privately held Ribozyme,and will fund research and ribozyme synthesis.

Christoffersen said the collaborators identified a number ofribozymes that potentially could be taken forward, but he declined todiscuss the status of the candidates or project timetables on the filingof an investigational new drug application. He would not disclosefurther financial terms of the agreement.

Terms of the original deal still in place include milestone payments(later in development), co-promotion rights in North America,manufacturing rights for Ribozyme and royalties on sales from Parke-Davis.

The technology of Boulder, Colo.-based Ribozyme involves the useof RNA molecules with enzymatic function to modify geneexpression. Ribozyme has a five-year potential $10 millioncollaboration with Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron Corp., to use theribozyme technology for five genetic targets. _ Jim Shrine

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