Breaking News
Get 45% Off 0
💰 With a 129% YTD gain in the bag, these are our AI’s top global picks for March
Read now

Alnylam, Vir Collaborate On RNAi Therapy For Coronavirus

By Zacks Investment ResearchStock MarketsMar 04, 2020 09:19PM ET
www.investing.com/analysis/alnylam-vir-collaborate-on-rnai-therapy-for-coronavirus-200513613
Alnylam, Vir Collaborate On RNAi Therapy For Coronavirus
By Zacks Investment Research   |  Mar 04, 2020 09:19PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This article has already been saved in your Saved Items
 
 
GILD
+1.18%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
ALNY
-1.45%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
ABBV
+1.68%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
VIR
-1.36%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) along with San Francisco, CA-based Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) announced that both are collaborating to develop/commercialize RNAi therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

Going by the agreement, the companies will leverage Alnylam’s recent advances in lung delivery of novel conjugates of siRNA along with Vir’s expertise in infectious disease and established capabilities to develop one or more siRNAs to treat SARS-CoV-2 and potentially other coronaviruses as well. siRNA is the molecule that mediates RNAi.

Per the press release, Vir will make all the development and commercialization efforts for any selected development candidate. At clinical proof of concept, Alnylam will have an option to equally share the profits/losses regarding the development and commercialization of the coronavirus program. If successful, Alnylam may also choose to earn milestones and royalties on net sales of products in amounts agreed upon for this coronavirus program.

Shares of Alnylam were up 5.2% following this news on Wednesday. In fact, the stock has rallied 38.3% in the past year against the industry’s decrease of 6.3%.

With this new program, Alnylam and Vir are expanding their licensing deal, which they inked in 2017 to develop up to six novel siRNAs for treating infectious diseases. The companies are currently evaluating the safety and efficacy of ALN-HBV02 (also known as VIR-2218) in a phase I/II study for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

We note that in the wake of this rapidly-spreading coronavirus infection in China and across the globe, several large and small pharma/biotech players are making concerted efforts to develop a vaccine or a treatment. Per the latest Bloomberg article, globally, Covid-19 already infected more than 90,000 people while the death toll crossed the 3000-mark. Coronavirus afflicted more than 100 people in the United States, killing 11 of them.

The WHO and other global health organizations as well as government authorities are actively participating in developing treatments for the Covid-19 and spreading awareness to avoid contracting the contagion.

Currently, AbbVie’s (NYSE:ABBV) HIV drug, Kaletra, is being administered to coronavirus-affected patients in China. Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) initiated two phase III studies to evaluate its antiviral candidate, remdesivir, as a treatment for the Covid-19. Pipeline candidates of other companies are also in early stages of development.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price

Zacks Rank

Alnylam currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Free: Zacks’ Single Best Stock Set to Double

Today you are invited to download our latest Special Report that reveals 5 stocks with the most potential to gain +100% or more in 2020. From those 5, Zacks Director of Research, Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

This pioneering tech ticker had soared to all-time highs and then subsided to a price that is irresistible. Now a pending acquisition could super-charge the company’s drive past competitors in the development of true Artificial Intelligence. The earlier you get in to this stock, the greater your potential gain.

See 5 Stocks Set to Double>>



Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD): Free Stock Analysis Report

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALNY): Free Stock Analysis Report

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR): Free Stock Analysis Report

Original post

Zacks Investment Research

Alnylam, Vir Collaborate On RNAi Therapy For Coronavirus
 

Related Articles

Adam Hamilton
Big US Stocks’ Q4’24 Fundamentals By Adam Hamilton - Mar 07, 2025

The big US stocks dominating markets and investors’ portfolios just finished another earnings season. They reported spectacular collective results including record sales, profits,...

Alnylam, Vir Collaborate On RNAi Therapy For Coronavirus

Add a Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:  

  •            Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.

  •           Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed. 

  •           Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.

  • Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases. Comments that are written in all caps and contain excessive use of symbols will be removed.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and comments containing links will be removed. Phone numbers, email addresses, links to personal or business websites, Skype/Telegram/WhatsApp etc. addresses (including links to groups) will also be removed; self-promotional material or business-related solicitations or PR (ie, contact me for signals/advice etc.), and/or any other comment that contains personal contact specifcs or advertising will be removed as well. In addition, any of the above-mentioned violations may result in suspension of your account.
  • Doxxing. We do not allow any sharing of private or personal contact or other information about any individual or organization. This will result in immediate suspension of the commentor and his or her account.
  • Don’t monopolize the conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also strongly believe in giving everyone a chance to air their point of view. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.
  • Any comment you publish, together with your investing.com profile, will be public on investing.com and may be indexed and available through third party search engines, such as Google.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Write your thoughts here
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
Post also to:
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Thanks for your comment. Please note that all comments are pending until approved by our moderators. It may therefore take some time before it appears on our website.
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block

Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?

By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.

%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List

Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.

Report this comment

I feel that this comment is:

Comment flagged

Thank You!

Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Continue with Apple
Continue with Google
or
Sign up with Email