Monday, July 21, 2008

Alnylam grants RNAi license to Calando Pharma

By Mass High Tech Staff

RNAi therapeutics company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. has granted Pasadena, Calif.-based Calando Pharmaceuticals Inc. an additional license for its RNAi therapeutic product.

Calando plans to use the product, called InterfeRx, to produce a synthetic siRNA aimed at an undisclosed cancer gene, according to Alnylam officials. The non-exclusive license agreement applies only to the specific gene Calando intends to work with and gives Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) the option to co-develop and co-commercialize the RNAi therapeutic product in the U.S.

Under terms of the license, Calando will pay Alnylam royalties and milestone payments on product sales, although specific details were not disclosed.

According to Jason Rhodes, vice president of business development of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Calando’s RNAi therapeutic oncology program is the only one of its kind in Phase 1 clinical trials.

Alnylam’s InterfeRx licensing program helps the company’s intellectual property on RNAi therapeutics find applications outside of Alnylam’s business interests. In 2006, Alnylam granted Calando its InterfeRx license for targeting the M2 subunit of RRM2 (ribonucleotide reductase).

In July, Alnylam reported that its Glover patent, which it had licensed with exclusivity from Cancer Research Technology Limited, had been overturned by the European Patent Office.

RNA interference, or RNAi, is a naturally occurring mechanism within cells for selectively silencing and regulating specific genes.

With 129 employees as of March 2008, Cambridge-based Alnylam reported a 2007 net loss of $85.5 million on revenue of $50.9 million.