Alnylam, U.S. Army to work together on RNAi therapeutics for biodefense threats

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., April 12 - Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Under the agreement, Alnylam will collaborate with the Army's medical research division to discover RNAi therapeutics targeting viral organisms, including hemorrhagic fever viruses, which pose a serious biological threat to the military and public health of the United States, according to a news release.

RNA interference, or RNAi, is a naturally occurring mechanism within cells for selectively silencing and regulating specific genes.

Alnylam's RNAi therapeutic platform enables the rapid discovery and development of anti-virals designed to be broad in scope that can be stockpiled as a national safeguard against biodefense threats, officials said.

Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference with global headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

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