- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) is up 1% premarket on light volume in response to its announcement of an exclusive licensing agreement with Vir Biotechnology aimed at developing and commercializing RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases, including hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
- The companies will advance Alnylam's HBV program and initiate collaborative research to develop and advance up to four additional RNAi programs.
- Alnylam intends to terminate development of Phase 1/2-stage ALN-HBV in favor of a new candidate, ALN-HBV02, which is based on its Enhanced Stabilization Chemistry-Plus (ESC+) GalNac conjugate technology.
- Alnylam will be responsible for the IND filing and Vir will take over through proof-of-concept. The firms will co-fund the program through this point. Vir will be responsible to conduct and fund development through Phase 2. Alnylam will have the opportunity to opt into a profit-sharing arrangement prior to the start of Phase 3.
- Vir will fund all R&D costs related to the other four programs with Alnylam retaining a product-specific option to opt into a profit-sharing arrangement following proof-of-concept testing.
- Under the terms of the agreement, Alnylam will receive an upfront payment comprised of cash and Vir common stock, milestones up to $1B and tiered royalties, should it decline its co-development and profit-sharing option on a per-product basis.
- Now read: Alnylam: Q3 Catalysts Play
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