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news.Novartis and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals have formed a multi-year alliance focused on the discovery of innovative therapeutics based on a process called RNA interference, which treats disease by inhibiting and regulating the activity of specific genes.
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The alliance will combine the research expertise and understanding of disease mechanism and pathway biology of Novartis with Alnylam’s leading position in the field of RNA interference (RNAi).
As part of the agreement between the companies, Novartis will make initial payments of approximately $56.8 million to Alnylam, consisting of upfront payments and the purchase of approximately 4.2 million shares of Alnylam common stock at a price of $11.11 per share. This represents a 19.9 % stake in Alnylam.
In addition, Alnylam will receive research and early development funding, progress milestones, preclinical and clinical development milestones, sales milestones and royalty payments.
The collaboration agreement has an initial three-year term that may be extended for a further two years. If the collaboration is successful and multiple products are developed and commercialized, collective payments to Alnylam could exceed $700 million, not including royalties.
RNAi is a natural process for selective gene silencing found in all cells. By utilizing the RNAi mechanism, RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat human disease in a fundamentally new way through the silencing of disease-causing activity in genes.
“This collaboration underscores Novartis’ commitment to forging strategic alliances with partners at the forefront of scientific discovery.” said Dr Mark Fishman, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. “RNAi holds great promise as a new therapeutic modality for treating many diseases. In particular, this exciting new area of biology has potential to target diseases that cannot be addressed by traditional approaches.”