Under the agreement, Alnylam will provide Benitec and its licensees an option to non-exclusively license Alnylam-controlled intellectual property (IP) in the field of expressed RNA interference (RNAi): targeted gene silencing mediated by short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) generated from DNA constructs introduced into cells.
Upon Benitec’s exercise of this option, Alnylam would receive license fees and be entitled to receive milestone payments and royalties on any expressed RNAi products developed by Benitec or its licensees.
Under the agreement, Benitec also provides Alnylam with reciprocal options under reciprocal terms to non-exclusively license Benitec IP for expressed RNAi and synthetic siRNAs.
In addition, Alnylam will provide Benitec with options to take up to five InterfeRx exclusive licenses to pursue synthetic RNAi therapeutics against mutually agreed, specific targets. Upon the exercise of each granted InterfeRx option, Alnylam will receive license fees and be entitled to receive milestone payments and royalties on synthetic RNAi therapeutics developed by Benitec.
The discovery of RNAi has been heralded by many as a major breakthrough, and the journal Science named RNAi the top scientific achievement of 2002, as well as one of the top 10 scientific advances of 2003.