– New Collaboration Focused on Discovery of Novel Cationic Lipids for
Systemic Delivery of RNAi Therapeutics –
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi
therapeutics company, and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX:
TKM), announced today that they will jointly participate in a new
research collaboration focused on the discovery of novel cationic lipids
and lipid nanoparticles for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.
Under the terms of the two-year research collaboration, Alnylam will
receive exclusive rights to all new inventions as well as rights to
sublicense any resulting intellectual property to Alnylam’s current and
future partners. Tekmira receives rights to use new inventions for their
own RNAi therapeutic programs licensed under Alnylam intellectual
property through its InterfeRxTM program.
“We are excited to participate with Tekmira to support research efforts
that will focus on the discovery of novel lipids for nanoparticle-based
formulations of RNAi therapeutics that we believe will have the
potential to push the frontiers of systemic delivery to further improve
potency and broaden biodistribution,” said Barry Greene, President and
Chief Operating Officer of Alnylam.
The research collaboration will be funded by Alnylam and the work will
be conducted by scientists at The University of British Columbia (UBC)
and at a newly formed company called AlCana Technologies, Inc. UBC and
AlCana will focus on generating novel cationic lipids to be evaluated in
lipid nanoparticles for the systemic delivery of RNAi drugs.
“We’re pleased to continue our successful relationship with Alnylam and
UBC in this new collaboration,” said Dr. Mark J. Murray, Tekmira’s
President and Chief Executive Officer. “In the new effort, Alnylam and
Tekmira will share in the development of new intellectual property that
we believe will further extend our industry leadership position in the
delivery of RNAi therapeutics.”
Alnylam and Tekmira have each advanced a systemic RNAi therapeutic
program to the clinic using Tekmira’s stable nucleic acid lipid particle
(SNALP) technology. Alnylam has an ongoing Phase I multi-center, open
label, dose escalation trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability,
pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ALN-VSP in patients with
advanced solid tumors with liver involvement, including hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC). Tekmira has initiated a Phase I human clinical trial
for ApoB SNALP, which is being developed as a treatment for patients
with high LDL cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol. Tekmira expects to
complete the Phase I trial in early 2010.
About RNA Interference (RNAi)
RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a
breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells,
and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its
discovery has been heralded as “a major scientific breakthrough that
happens once every decade or so,” and represents one of the most
promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug discovery
today which was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms
ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological
process of RNAi occurring in our cells, the creation of a major new
class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon.
