Alnylam president hints at spinoff, new pacts

Xconomy's Ryan McBride writes that Alnylam President Barry Green has dropped a few fresh hints about the closely-watched company's future direction--including a possible spin-off similar to the one that created Regulus Therapeutics. Two years ago Alnylam and Isis created Regulus as a spin-off aimed at developing microRNA therapies.

Green mentioned a "Regulus-like" spinoff at the MassBio Investors Forum in Boston yesterday. But he later declined to detail to McBride exactly what he had in mind. Alnylam CEO John Maraganore told Xconomy earlier this year that it possessed a number of technologies with spinoff potential. Green also told the crowd to expect a couple of major alliances in the near future.

"While this mysterious "Regulus-like" deal now exists as speculation," notes McBride, "it could be interesting to see how Alnylam finds new ways to reap value from its existing portfolio of drug candidates or RNAi patents."

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