CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY - News), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced that it has earned a $20 million technology transfer payment from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited as part of the strategic alliance the companies formed in May 2008. This payment is related to the achievement of certain pre-defined objectives in the transfer of Alnylam’s platform technology, including documents, materials, and know-how, to Takeda for the development of RNAi therapeutics. Alnylam has previously received $120 million in upfront and technology transfer payments from Takeda. In addition to this current $20 million payment, Alnylam is eligible to receive an additional $10 million in near-term technology transfer payments. Alnylam is also eligible to receive significant milestones and royalties related to the Takeda’s advancement of RNAi therapeutic products, and has retained certain product opt-in rights in the U.S. market.
“We are very pleased with the continued progress we have made in our enablement of Takeda with Alnylam’s RNAi therapeutics platform technology and intellectual property,” said Barry Greene, President and Chief Operating Officer of Alnylam. “Our partnership with Takeda has been extremely productive, and we look forward to our continued work with them in developing RNAi therapeutics on a global basis, which includes Alnylam’s opt-in right to co-develop and co-commercialize certain Takeda RNAi therapeutic products in the U.S. market.”
“We are excited by the completion of this stage in our technology transfer with Alnylam, which provides Takeda with a world-class foundation for RNAi drug discovery,” said Shigenori Ohkawa, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Takeda. “We are encouraged by the progress we have made to date, and look forward to advancing this important innovation to patients.”
The Alnylam-Takeda alliance, which is valued at potentially over $1 billion, represents the industry’s first and most significant RNAi therapeutics partnership between a Japan-based global pharmaceutical company and a U.S. biotechnology company. The agreement provides Takeda with broad, worldwide, non-exclusive access to and enablement with Alnylam’s RNAi therapeutics platform technology and intellectual property in the fields of oncology and metabolic disease, with the right to expand the number of therapeutic fields in the future. In addition, it includes a collaboration and cross-license of delivery technologies between the two companies, and a drug discovery collaboration on certain RNAi targets. Alnylam also has the right to opt-in and co-develop and co-commercialize Takeda RNAi therapeutic programs in the U.S. market on a 50-50 basis; the opt-in right can be exercised up until the start of Phase III clinical trials.
About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is applying its therapeutic expertise in RNAi to address significant medical needs, many of which cannot effectively be addressed with small molecules or antibodies, the current major classes of drugs. Alnylam is leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines with peer-reviewed research efforts published in the world’s top scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine, and Cell. The company is leveraging these capabilities to build a broad pipeline of RNAi therapeutics; its most advanced program is in Phase II human clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. In addition, the company is developing RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of disease areas, including liver cancers, TTR-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), hypercholesterolemia, and Huntington’s disease. The company’s leadership position in fundamental patents, technology, and know-how relating to RNAi has enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies including Medtronic, Novartis, Biogen Idec, Roche, Takeda, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, and Cubist. Alnylam and Isis are joint owners of Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of microRNA-based therapeutics. Founded in 2002, Alnylam maintains headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.alnylam.com.
Alnylam Forward-Looking Statement
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam’s future expectations, plans and prospects, 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 risks related to the likelihood of Alnylam successfully achieving additional milestones, including technology transfer milestones, under its agreement with Takeda, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its most recent annual report on Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent Alnylam’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Contact:
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Investors Cynthia Clayton, 617-551-8207 or Media Spectrum Amanda Sellers, 202-955-6222 x2597
