Agreement marks the third extension, with the company continuing to provide funding.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals will extend its RNAi therapeutics research collaboration with AlCana Technologies and The University of British Columbia (UBC) for a third year. The partnership, launched in August 2009, focuses on the discovery of novel cationic lipids employed in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

“The research conducted by AlCana and UBC has led to the discovery of our second generation LNPs that demonstrate remarkable improvements in potency, a wider therapeutic index, and potential for delivery beyond the liver,” says Kenneth Koblan, Ph.D., Alnylam’s CSO.

Alnylam, funds the research collaboration, with work conducted by scientists at UBC and AlCana. Alnylam retains exclusive rights to all new inventions in the RNAi field as well as rights to sublicense any resulting intellectual property to Alnylam’s current and future partners.

As part of the original 2009 agreement, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals receives rights to use any new AlCana/UBC inventions for their own RNAi therapeutic programs licensed under Alnylam intellectual property through its InterfeRx™ program.

Anylam is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing RNAi-based therapeutics for the treatment of genetically defined diseases including ALN-TTR for the treatment of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), ALN-PCS for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia, and ALN-HPN for the treatment of refractory anemia.

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