CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2006-- Company Holding Conference Call at 8:30 a.m. Today to Discuss Results. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the first published demonstration in primates that a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic can potently silence an endogenous disease-causing gene in a clinically relevant manner. Alnylam and its collaborators at Protiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., demonstrated silencing in primates of the gene for apolipoprotein B (apoB), a protein involved in cholesterol metabolism, with clinically significant efficacy as demonstrated by reductions in levels of cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). This peer-reviewed research, published in the world-leading scientific journal Nature, represents a major advance because it suggests that an RNAi therapeutic can be effective when delivered systemically using a dosage appropriate for application in future human clinical studies.
