Alnylam Pharmaceuticals says Roche makes undisclosed payment after starting tests of RNAi drug
By APWednesday, January 6, 2010
Alnylam Pharma gets milestone payment from Roche
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday it received a milestone payment from its partner Roche AG after Roche started a study of a drug developed with Alnylam’s gene-silencing technology.
Alnylam did not disclose the amount of the payment but indicated the drug is in preclinical testing.
Roche of Switzerland licensed Alnylam’s research into RNA interference technology, or RNAi, in July 2007 in a deal that included $331 million upfront and a potential total value of more than $1 billion. Alnylam said the drug discovery part of the partnership began in November 2009.
RNAi therapies are designed to stop the genetic causes of illnesses by turning off proteins that are at the root of the disease.
