A little more than a year after revising [1]Â their RNAi development deal to include $120 million in milestone payments, Alnylam says it is fundamentally in its best interests to terminate the pact with Merck. After they amended that deal last summer, Merck bought Sirna Therapeutics for $1.1 billion [2], which put Merck directly into the RNAi space. Alnylam has other partnerships still in the works with Novartis and Biogen Idec, and it recently formed a new company [3]Â with Isis Pharmaceuticals [4] to focus on developing new drugs based on micro-RNA. Investors and analysts alike were quick to applaud the move, sending Alnylam's shares up sharply.
- check out Alnylam's release [5]Â on the decision
- read the report [6] from MassHighTech
Related Articles:
Merck, Alnylam recalibrate development pact. Report
[1]Roche harnesses Alnylam's RNAi tech in $1B deal. Report [7]
RNAi leaders Isis, Alnylam form new company. Report [3]
A billion-dollar lesson in RNAi economics. Report [8]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/merck-alnylam-recalibrate-development-pact/2006-07-06
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/merck-to-shell-out-1-1b-for-sirna/2006-10-31
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/rnai-leaders-isis-alnylam-form-new-company/2007-09-07
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/spotlight-isis-gains-from-big-rnai-deal/2007-07-10
[5] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/press-release-alnylam-pharmaceuticals-announces-termination-its-collaboration-merck
[6] http://www.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2007/09/17/daily28.html
[7] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/roche-harnesses-alnylam-s-rnai-tech-in-1b-deal/2007-07-09
[8] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/a-billion-dollar-lesson-in-rnai-economics/2007-07-09