Print“We believe that Alnylam's world-class RNAi technology holds the promise to provide a platform for sustained drug development for rare genetic diseases for years to come, says David Meeker, Genzyme CEO.”
Sanofi is paying $700 million for a 12 percent stake in Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, significantly expanding its access to the company’s portfolio of rare disease therapeutics and adding further support for Alnylam’s pipeline.
The deal gives Sanofi's rare disease unit, Genzyme, new paths to revenue as the company seeks to recover from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s rejection of Lemtrada, the multiple sclerosis drug that played a key role in Sanofi's $20.1 billion acquisition of Genzyme in 2011.
Alnylam develops therapeutics that harnesses RNA interference, or RNAi, a naturally occurring biological process to regulate genes. It first formed an exclusive alliance with Sanofi to develop and commercialize therapies based on its core product development program in October 2012. The new deal extends that alliance, providing what will likely reach more than $1 billion in total equity, R&D funding, and potential milestone payments and royalties.
“Our relationship with Alnylam has been highly collaborative,” says David Meeker, president and CEO of Genzyme, “and we believe that their world-class RNAi technology holds the promise to provide a platform for sustained drug development for rare genetic diseases for years to come.”
Alnylam will retain product rights in North America and Western Europe, while Sanofi’s Genzyme will obtain the right to access Alnylam's current and future genetic medicines pipeline in the rest of the world, including expanded rights to patisiran, an experimental therapy for transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis, an inherited, progressively debilitating, and fatal disease caused by mutations in the TTR gene. In addition, starting in 2015 Alnylam will receive R&D funding for programs where Genzyme has elected to opt-in for development and commercialization.
In a separate deal, Alnylam announced that it would pay Merck $175 million in cash and equity to acquire the intellectual property and RNAi assets of Sirna Therapeutics, a company Merck bought for $1.1 billion in 2006, a high time for enthusiasm over RNAi’s promise.
Alnylam CEO John Maraganore says the deal will “complement and extend” his company’s progress and continued focus on RNAi therapeutics, including siRNA-conjugate technologies.¬
The deal includes pre-clinical therapeutic candidates, chemistry, siRNA-conjugate, and other delivery technologies. In addition, Merck is eligible to receive up to $105 million in developmental and sales milestone payments per product, as well as single-digit royalties, associated with the progress of certain pre-clinical candidates. Merck is also eligible to receive up to $10 million in milestone payments and single-digit royalties on Alnylam products covered by Sirna’s patent estate.
"We believe this agreement positions Sirna Therapeutics' therapeutic RNAi assets with a company that has the focus and commitment necessary to harness their potential,” says Iain Dukes, Merck’s SVP of business development and licensing. “This is consistent with our strategy to reduce emphasis on platform technologies and prioritize our R&D efforts to focus on product candidates capable of providing unambiguous promotable advantages to patients and payers.”
January 17, 2014
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-sanofi_invests_700m_in_rare_disease_specialist_alnylam.html
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