Roche buys into RNAi with Alnylam

Swiss pharma giant Roche has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to develop RNAi-based therapeutics with US biotech Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.

The deal will see Roche pay US$331 million (A$395 million) in upfront payments and equity investments to Alnylam for a non-exclusive licence for Alnylam's RNA interference (RNAi) technology platform.

RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. RNAi therapeutics aim to target the cause of diseases by silencing specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Alnylam, established in 2002, already has agreements with Merck, Medtronic, Novartis and Biogen Idec.

Its most advanced therapeutic program is a Phase II human clinical trial for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. It is also developing RNAi therapeutics for influenza, hypercholesterolemia and liver cancers.

The alliance with Roche will initially cover the areas of oncology, respiratory diseases, metabolic diseases and certain liver diseases.

Under the deal, Roche will acquire Alnylam's European research site located in Kulmbach in Germany, subject to regulatory approval, which will become Roche's Centre of Excellence for RNAi therapeutics discovery.

The Roche-Alnylam alliance is yet another significant deal in the dawning era of RNAi therapeutics. Last year, Merck bought RNAi developer Sirna Therapeutics, which has a lead candidate in Phase II development for age-related macular degeneration, for US$ 1.1 billion (A$1.3 billion).