Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded a Notice of Allowance for the “Soutschek and Manoharan” patent (Application No. 10/916,185), which covers certain chemically modified siRNAs of any length directed to any target, including siRNAs with sterol conjugates for in vivo delivery.
The new patent is based on the ground-breaking research by Alnylam scientists on systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics as documented in Soutschek et al. (Nature 432, 173-178 (11 November 2004)).
“a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so”
“We are very pleased with the USPTO’s allowance of claims from this patent, as it heralds a new wave of Alnylam-derived patents based on the pioneering research efforts of our scientists on in vivo delivery of RNAi therapeutics. Importantly, these new patents significantly broaden the scope and extend the horizon of our fundamental intellectual property, including patents from the Crooke, Glover, Kreutzer-Limmer, Tuschl I, and Tuschl II patent families,” said Barry Greene, President and Chief Operating Officer of Alnylam. “The Soutschek and Manoharan patent family derives from one of the most important scientific publications in the field of RNAi therapeutics, as published in the prestigious journal Nature in 2004. This landmark paper was the first to show RNAi-mediated gene silencing in mammals with systemic delivery of chemically modified RNAi therapeutics in vivo.”
Alnylam’s IP position is comprised of fundamental, chemistry, delivery, and target patents and patent applications that the company believes are necessary for the development and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics. In aggregate, Alnylam owns or has in-licensed over 1,800 active patent cases, of which over 700 have issued or been granted worldwide, and over 300 have issued or been granted in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, the world’s largest pharmaceutical markets.
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