CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that its investigational new drug (IND) application for ALN-VSP has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin enrolling patients. ALN-VSP, an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of liver cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma and other solid tumors with liver involvement, contains two small interfering RNAs (siRNAs, the molecules that mediate RNAi), formulated in a lipid nanoparticle developed by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation. ALN-VSP is designed to target two genes critical in the growth and development of cancer: kinesin spindle protein, or KSP, required for tumor proliferation; and vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, required for tumor growth. Pre-clinical data in mouse tumor model studies have demonstrated robust efficacy of ALN-VSP, including suppression of targeted genes, demonstration of an RNAi mechanism of action, tumor reduction, and extension of survival.
