Nov 16, 2011 Press Release for Alnylam
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Grants InterfeRx™ Intellectual Property License to Sylentis for Development and Commercialization of RNAi Therapeutics
Nov 16, 2011
“We are pleased to be granting Sylentis a new InterfeRx license, thereby
enabling their efforts with access to Alnylam intellectual property
which we believe is critical for the development and commercialization
of RNAi therapeutics,” said
“Sylentis is focused on designing, developing, and commercializing RNAi therapeutics to treat serious medical conditions such as glaucoma. This license from Alnylam is an important step for us to further advance our glaucoma program in human clinical studies,” said José María Fernández Sousa, President of Grupo Zeltia.
Alnylam created the InterfeRx licensing program to grant licenses under
its intellectual property to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies
wishing to pursue RNAi therapeutics against specific targets outside
Alnylam's core strategic interests. To date, a total of six companies
are InterfeRx licensees; the license grants cover fourteen active target
programs including four in clinical development. In addition to
Sylentis, Alnylam's InterfeRx licensees include
About RNA Interference (RNAi)
RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells, and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its discovery has been heralded as “a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so,” and represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug discovery today which was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, the creation of a major new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam’s RNAi therapeutic platform, target the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific mRNAs, thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way.
About
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics
based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is leading the
translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines with a core
focus on RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of genetically defined
diseases, including ALN-TTR for the treatment of transthyretin-mediated
amyloidosis (ATTR), ALN-PCS for the treatment of severe
hypercholesterolemia, ALN-HPN for the treatment of refractory anemia,
and ALN-APC for the treatment of hemophilia. As part of its “Alnylam 5x15TM”
strategy, the company expects to have five RNAi therapeutic products for
genetically defined diseases in advanced stages of clinical development
by the end of 2015. Alnylam has additional partner-based programs in
clinical or development stages, including ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, ALN-VSP for the treatment
of liver cancers, and ALN-HTT for the treatment of Huntington’s disease.
The company’s leadership position on RNAi therapeutics and intellectual
property have enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies
including Merck,
About Sylentis
Sylentis was founded in 2006 as a spin-off of Genomica (a subsidiary of
Grupo Zeltia). In
About
Alnylam Forward-Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam’s future
expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation,
Alnylam’s views with respect to its InterfeRx™ program and the
importance and scope of its intellectual property rights, the potential
receipt of milestone payments and royalties under its InterfeRx license
to Sylentis, as well as Alnylam’s expectations with respect to its
“Alnylam 5x15” product strategy, constitute forward-looking statements
for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a
result of various important factors, including without limitation risks
related to: Alnylam’s approach to discover and develop novel drugs,
which is unproven and may never lead to marketable products; the
pre-clinical and clinical results for its product candidates, which may
not support further development of product candidates; actions of
regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and
progress of clinical trials; obtaining, maintaining and protecting
intellectual property; Alnylam’s ability to enforce its patents against
infringers and to defend its patent portfolio against challenges from
third parties; Alnylam’s ability to obtain additional funding to support
its business activities; Alnylam’s dependence on third parties for
development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of products;
obtaining regulatory approval for products; and Alnylam’s short
operating history; as well as those risks more fully discussed in the
“Risk Factors” section of its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q
on file with the
Source:
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Cynthia Clayton, 617-551-8207
Senior
Director, Investor Relations and
Corporate Communications
or
Spectrum
Amanda
Sellers (Media), 202-955-6222 x2597
or
Sylentis
Fernando
Mugarza, +34 91 444 4500
Communication Director
For Media Inquiries, please contact:
Christine Akinc
Chief Corporate Communications Officer media@alnylam.com 617-682-4340
For Investor Inquiries, please contact:
Josh Brodsky
VP, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications investors@alnylam.com 617-551-8276
MEDIA KIT
Essential assets and documents related to Alnylam