– Strengthens Management Team with Promotion of Key Leaders, Including Appointment of Victor Kotelianski to New Role of Senior Vice President and Alnylam Distinguished Fellow –

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced that it has appointed John A. Schmidt, Jr., M.D. to the position of Chief Scientific Officer. In this role, Dr. Schmidt will play a critical role in leading Alnylam's research and drug discovery activities, and will report to John Maraganore, Alnylam’s Chief Executive Officer.

“We are thrilled that Jack is joining Alnylam at such an exciting time in the growth of our company,” said John Maraganore, Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. “Jack brings over two decades of experience leading drug discovery, and will be an invaluable member of our team as we continue to advance our therapeutic programs into development and clinical trials. His depth of knowledge and commitment to innovative medicines will be a tremendous asset as we continue to build a top-tier biopharmaceutical company founded on RNAi.”

“Alnylam has made tremendous advancements in translating RNAi into an entirely new class of medicines, and I am very excited to be joining the company in advancing its efforts,” said John A. Schmidt, Jr., M.D. “I have been following the science of RNAi for some time, and believe that it is the next big step in the biotherapeutics revolution. Through RNAi, we have the potential to develop novel therapeutics targeting a broad range of disease targets, most of which are undruggable with today’s medicines. Alnylam’s progress to date, both in the business and scientific arenas, is unparalleled in this industry and I am looking forward to working with the outstanding team in place to help bring these innovative medicines to patients.”

Before joining Alnylam, Dr. Schmidt was Vice President and US member of the Sanofi-Aventis Global Discovery Leadership Team where he was also responsible for biotherapeutics, external innovation, and discovery initiatives in China. At legacy Aventis, he was Vice President and Head of the Respiratory and Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Group where he worked closely with Aventis colleagues and collaboration partners at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Coley Pharmaceutical Group to advance more than 15 NCEs into preclinical development. Dr. Schmidt had previously served as Senior Director of Immunology and Rheumatology at Merck Research Laboratories where his group conducted fundamental work on interleukin 1 beta, particularly its cognate processing enzyme, caspase 1.

Dr. Schmidt received his undergraduate degree from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia before completing his MD, internship, and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Immunology and the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. He is author or co-author of more than sixty scientific papers, book chapters, or meeting proceedings.

In addition, Alnylam has promoted Victor Kotelianski, M.D., Ph.D., to the role of Senior Vice President and Distinguished Alnylam Fellow. In this newly created position, Dr. Kotelianski will continue to report to the Chief Executive Officer as he plays a key role in leading Alnylam’s research efforts while driving execution of the company’s key goals. He will also provide continued support on evaluation and management of external initiatives, including delivery technologies, academic and corporate collaborations, and future spin-out opportunities.

Alnylam has also expanded its management team with the promotion of three individuals to key positions in the organization. The company promoted Antonin de Fougerolles, Ph.D. to the position of Vice President, Research, Immunology, Metabolic, and Viral Disease; Susanna High to the position of Vice President, Business Planning and Program Management; and Dinah Sah, Ph.D. to the position of Vice President, Research, CNS, and Oncology. Drs. de Fougerolles and Sah will report to the Chief Scientific Officer; Ms. High will continue to report to Barry Greene, Alnylam’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

“It gives me great pride to recognize the growth of these outstanding individuals, each of whom has played an integral role in strengthening this organization,” said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer.