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Print Edition StoriesThursday, August 6, 2009
Alnylam, Tekmira enter RNAi research collaboration
By Mass High Tech staff
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Cambridge-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. is collaborating with Canadian firm Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. to find new cationic lipids and lipid nanoparticles that will improve RNAi therapeutics delivery.
The two-year agreement calls for Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) to fund the research and retain exclusive rights for inventions stemming from the collaboration. The company will also hold the rights enabling it to sublicense its intellectual property.
In return, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX: TKM) holds rights to access joint inventions from the collaboration to use in the company’s own RNAi programs. Scientists at the University of British Columbia and AlCana Technologies Inc. will conduct the research.
Last month, Alnylam and Novartis AG announced a plan to add another year to the two companies’ collaboration through October 2010. Their multiyear alliance first began in 2005, with the two companies targeting a goal of developing treatment for disease gene targets outlined by Novartis. Originally, the collaboration had an three-year term that could be extended for two additional one-year periods. This latest extension represents the last year the agreement could continue.
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