CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 2006--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY - News), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has upheld key features of the company’s Kreutzer-Limmer I patent (EP 1144623) with claims covering small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi. This patent was originally granted in Europe on August 28, 2002, but was opposed by several parties, a legal practice that is common for European patents. The amended patent claims cover certain structural requirements for siRNAs that are important for therapeutic activity.
