Alnylam Files Answer and Counterclaim Related to Tekmira Lawsuit
June 29 2011 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi
therapeutics company, has filed an answer and counterclaim to an
amended complaint filed by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation in
the Business Litigation Session (BLS) of the Massachusetts Superior
Court. Alnylam has also disclosed a research agreement and a
related supplemental agreement with Tekmira and other third
parties.
“Alnylam continues to believe that the complaint filed by
Tekmira is without merit or foundation, and the company intends to
fully defend itself in this matter,” said Barry Greene, President
and Chief Operating Officer of Alnylam. “Our focus remains on the
advancement of RNAi therapeutics to patients and execution on our
clinical programs.”
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. Small interfering RNAs
(siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam’s
RNAi therapeutic platform, target the cause of diseases by potently
silencing specific mRNAs, thereby preventing disease-causing
proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to
treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way.
About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel
therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is
leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative
medicines with a core focus on RNAi therapeutics for the treatment
of genetically defined diseases, including ALN-TTR for the
treatment of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), ALN-PCS for
the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia, and ALN-HPN for the
treatment of refractory anemia. As part of its “Alnylam 5x15TM”
strategy, the company expects to have five RNAi therapeutic
products for genetically defined diseases in advanced stages of
clinical development by the end of 2015. Alnylam has additional
partner-based programs in clinical or development stages, including
ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
infection, ALN-VSP for the treatment of liver cancers, and ALN-HTT
for the treatment of Huntington’s disease. The company’s leadership
position on RNAi therapeutics and intellectual property have
enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies including
Merck, Medtronic, Novartis, Biogen Idec, Roche, Takeda, Kyowa Hakko
Kirin, and Cubist. In addition, Alnylam and Isis co-founded Regulus
Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on discovery, development, and
commercialization of microRNA therapeutics; Regulus has formed
partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline and sanofi-aventis. Alnylam has
also formed Alnylam Biotherapeutics, a division of the company
focused on the development of RNAi technologies for application in
biologics manufacturing, including recombinant proteins and
monoclonal antibodies. Alnylam scientists and collaborators have
published their research on RNAi therapeutics in over 100
peer-reviewed papers, including many in the world’s top scientific
journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, and
Cell. Founded in 2002, Alnylam maintains headquarters in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. For more information, please visit
www.alnylam.com.
Alnylam Forward-Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam’s future
expectations, plans and prospects, including, without limitation,
statements regarding Alnylam’s views with respect to the
allegations included in Tekmira’s complaint and its intentions to
provide a defense against such allegations, and statements
regarding Alnylam’s expectations with respect to its “Alnylam 5x15”
product strategy, constitute forward-looking statements for the
purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially
from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a
result of various important factors, as well as those risks more
fully discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its most recent
quarterly report on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements
represent Alnylam’s views only as of today and should not be relied
upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam
does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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