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ALNY News Alnylam Grants Bio-Rad License to Kreutzer-Limmer Patents for the RNA Interference (RNAi) Research Products Market

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has granted Bio-Rad a non-exclusive license to provide RNAi research products under the Kreutzer-Limmer patent family. This patent family, owned exclusively by Alnylam, covers small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and their use to mediate RNAi in mammalian cells.

“Execution of this license agreement with Bio-Rad, a global leader in the life science research community, continues to underscore the value of the Kreutzer-Limmer patent family as a critical component of fundamental intellectual property in the field of RNAi,” said Roland Kreutzer, Ph.D., Managing Director of Alnylam Europe AG. “This agreement brings the number of licenses that Alnylam has granted to more than 20, including 13 with research product suppliers. In fact, we believe that over 75 percent of industrial sales of siRNAs for research purposes are currently being made under access to Alnylam’s intellectual property.”

Alnylam’s intellectual property estate includes certain fundamental patents and patent applications that claim the broad structural and functional properties of synthetic RNAi products. These include the Kreutzer-Limmer I and II patents, acquired through the 2003 merger of Alnylam with Ribopharma.

About RNA Interference (RNAi)

RNA interference (or RNAi) is a naturally occurring mechanism within cells for selectively silencing and regulating specific genes. The discovery of RNAi has been widely acknowledged as a major breakthrough in biology, and the technology was recognized for its potential broad impact in medicine with the award of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Since many diseases are caused by the inappropriate activity of specific genes, the ability to silence genes selectively through RNAi has accelerated the understanding of these genes and their related pathways. Additionally, RNAi could provide a new way to treat a wide range of human diseases. RNAi is induced by small, double-stranded RNA molecules. One method to activate RNAi is with chemically synthesized small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, which are double-stranded RNAs that are targeted to a specific disease-associated gene. The siRNA molecules are used by the natural RNAi machinery in cells to cause targeted gene silencing.

About Alnylam

Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is applying its therapeutic expertise in RNAi to address significant medical needs, many of which cannot effectively be addressed with small molecules or antibodies, the current major classes of drugs. Alnylam is building a pipeline of RNAi therapeutics; its lead program is in Phase I human clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. RSV infects nearly every child at least once by the age of two and accounts for more than 100,000 hospitalizations annually in the U.S. pediatric population. RSV infection also poses a great risk to the elderly and other adults with compromised immune systems. The company’s leadership position in fundamental patents, technology, and know-how relating to RNAi has enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies including Merck, Medtronic, Novartis, and Biogen Idec. The company, founded in 2002, maintains global headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has an additional operating unit in Kulmbach, Germany. For more information, visit www.alnylam.com.

About Bio-Rad

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (AMEX: BIO and BIOb), has remained at the center of scientific discovery for more than 50 years manufacturing and distributing a broad range of products for the life science research and clinical diagnostics markets. The company is renowned worldwide among hospitals, universities, major research institutions as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for its commitment to quality and customer service. Founded in 1952, Bio-Rad is headquartered in Hercules, California, and serves more than 85,000 research and industry customers worldwide through its global network of operations. The company employs over 5,000 people globally and had revenues exceeding $1.2 billion in 2006. For more information, visit www.bio-rad.com.

Alnylam Forward-Looking Statements

Various statements in this release concerning our future expectations, plans and prospects, including Alnylam’s views with respect to the importance of its intellectual property rights, constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including risks related to: Alnylam’s approach to discover and develop novel drugs, which is unproven and may never lead to marketable products; Alnylam’s ability to fund and the results of further pre-clinical and clinical trials; obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property utilized by Alnylam’s products; Alnylam’s ability to enforce its patents against infringers and to defend its patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; Alnylam’s ability to obtain additional funding to support its business activities; Alnylam’s dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales, and distribution of products; the successful development of Alnylam’s product candidates, all of which are in early stages of development; obtaining regulatory approval for products; competition from others using technology similar to Alnylam’s and others developing products for similar uses; Alnylam’s dependence on collaborators; and its short operating history; as well as those risks more fully discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of Alnylam’s most recent report on Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent Alnylam’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.