Alnylam, Cubist form RNAi partnership

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Cubist Pharmaceuticals announced today that they will work together to develop and commercialize Alnylam's RNAI-based ALN-RSV program. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a virus that infects nearly every child at least once by the age of two, as well as others with compromised immune systems. The deal covers ALN-RSV01, which is in Phase II trials in adult lung transplant patients.

Alnylam gets a $20 million up-front payment from Cubist and could earn up to $82.5 million in development and sales milestones, in addition to royalties on non-North American and Asian sales. In a statement the companies said the deal is a 50/50 co-development and profit share arrangement in North America. It also entails a milestone-and royalty-bearing license arrangement in the rest of the world, excluding Asia.

"Partnering this program brings additional critical mass to the advancement of ALN-RSV01 and/or second-generation RSV-specific RNAi therapeutics in our broader program which we aim to advance through ongoing pre-clinical studies toward potential clinical studies as early as 2010," said Alnylam CEO John Maraganore. "The partnership also provides Alnylam with yet additional financial flexibility to invest beyond RSV in the multiple product opportunities represented by our growing pipeline of novel RNAi therapeutics." 

- here's the release
- check out the Mass High Tech report

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