As part of the collaboration, Isis has co-exclusively licensed its single-stranded RNAi (ssRNAi) technology to Alnylam in exchange for upfront payments, R&D milestone payments, and royalties.
The alliance provides Alnylam with access to Isis’s intellectual property and expertise regarding the development of ssRNAi antisense drugs, while both companies will have the opportunity to discover and develop drugs employing the new technology. In addition to the new collaboration, Isis and Alnylam also agreed to extend their broad cross-licensing arrangement regarding double-stranded RNAi that was established in 2004.
Under the terms of the licensing and collaboration agreement, Alnylam will potentially pay Isis up to $31 million in license fees payable in four tranches that include $11 million on signing, $10 million in 18 months or earlier if in vivo efficacy in rodents is demonstrated sooner, $5 million upon achievement of in vivo efficacy in non-human primates, and $5 million upon initiation of the first clinical trial with an ssRNAi drug.
Alnylam will fund research activities at a minimum of $3 million each year for three years with research development activities conducted both at Isis and Alnylam. If Alnylam develops and commercializes drugs utilizing ssRNAi technology on its own or with a partner, Isis will receive milestones and royalties. Also, initially Isis is eligible to receive up to 50% of any sublicense payments due to Alnylam based on Alnylam partnering of ssRNAi products, which will decline over time as Alnylam’s investment in the technology and drugs increases.
In turn, Alnylam is eligible to receive up to 5% of any sublicense payments due to Isis based on Isis’s partnering of ssRNAi products. Both Isis and Alnylam are eligible to receive royalties from each other on any ssRNAi products developed by the other company.