Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Collaborators Publish Research on a New Class of Chemically Modified RNAi Therapeutics that Target Two Distinct Cellular Mechanisms

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced the publication of a new study in Nature Medicine by scientists from the University of Bonn in collaboration with Alnylam. The new pioneering research documents the design and evaluation of “3p-siRNAs,” a new class of RNAi therapeutics comprised of small interfering RNAs (or siRNA, the molecules that mediate RNAi) which are designed and chemically modified to activate RIG-I (retinoic acid-induced gene I, a cytoplasmic immunoreceptor which strongly induces type I interferon and NK cell responses). The study showed that a 3p-siRNA specific for the anti-apoptotic factor bcl-2 may be a highly effective anti-cancer agent in several animal models. 3p-siRNAs that are designed toward other gene targets may also have applications in infectious disease and as vaccine adjuvants.