CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a notification of an intent to grant for the “Manoharan II” patent series (EP Application No 04 718 537), titled “Therapeutic Compositions.” The new patent includes 16 claims covering compositions and methods, including pharmaceutical compositions, for chemically modified siRNAs containing phosphorothioate and 2'-O-alkyl modifications without any siRNA length restrictions. These chemical modifications are broadly used to achieve potency, stability, and selectivity of siRNAs; features that are needed to design siRNAs with “drug-like” properties for therapeutic applications.
