Alnylam has established relationships with leading foundations and research facilities committed to develop RNAi therapeutics for diseases with unmet medical needs.

In October 2003, Alnylam formed a research collaboration to apply its RNAi therapeutic technology to a discovery by researchers at Mayo Clinic and NIH of a causal pathway in Parkinson's disease. Under this research collaboration, Alnylam will identify, synthesize and provide RNAi-based therapeutics targeted to alpha-synuclein, and Mayo Clinic will test and select the RNAi therapeutics for their efficacy in a series of in vitro and in vivo studies.

In March 2005, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics (CFFT) and Alnylam initiated a collaborative program to discover Direct RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of CF. The cause of CF is a defective protein known as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Alnylam will apply RNAi technology to restore normal CFTR protein function in CF. The program will draw upon the expertise of the CFFT and their advisors for guidance on the research activities and as sources of key reagents and assays. CFFT provided Alnylam a grant of $1.5M to fund this research.

In May 2005, Alnylam formed a research collaboration with scientists at the University of Georgia (UGA) to discover RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of pandemic flu, including the H5N1 avain flu. In this collaboration, Alnylam will design and snythesize RNAi therapeutic candidates that will be tested in vitro and in vivo at UGA.

In August 2005, the Michael J. Fox Foundation awarded Alnylam a grant under the Foundation's Drug Discovery and Development program aimed at addressing obstacles that currently impede progress in bringing new Parkinson's disease therapies to market. Alnylam and scientific collaborators at Mayo Clinic are applying RNA interference (RNAi) technology toward the development of a therapeutic for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

In September 2005, Alnylam formed a research collaboration with scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to discover RNAi therapeutics for the treatment highly pathogenic strains of pandemic flu, including the avain H5N1.

In December 2005, Alnylam recieved initial government funding for the its pandemic flu program from the Department of Defense's 'Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency' (DARPA).

In April 2006, Alnylam announced today the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Under the agreement, Alnylam will collaborate with USAMRIID 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.

Funded by the National Insititue of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

In September 2006, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Alnylam a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to advance the development of RNAi therapeutics for pandemic influenza. The SBIR grant will provide Alnylam with approximately $590,000 in funding over a one-year period to support the company's research efforts on small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi, as anti-viral drugs with broad spectrum activity toward multiple influenza strains including the H5N1 virus.

Additionally, in September 2006, Alnylam was awarded a contract to advance the development of a broad spectrum RNAi anti-viral therapeutic against hemorrhagic fever virus. The federal contract (No. HHSN266200600012C) will provide Alnylam with funding over a four-year period to develop small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi, as anti-viral drugs targeting the Ebola virus. The Ebola virus can cause a severe, often fatal infection, and poses a potential biological safety risk and bioterrorism threat.

In August 2007, the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) awarded Alnylam a contract to develop a broad spectrum RNAi anti-viral therapeutic for the treatment of viral hemorrhagic fever. The goal of this research program is to develop an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of hemorrhagic fever virus infection. Alnylam's program will investigate the silencing of endogenous host targets believed to be involved in viral pathogenesis and disease progression. This new contract fully supports all activities from program initiation through Phase I trials. With this program, as with its Ebola program, Alnylam is working with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Alnylam will be producing drug candidates which will be sent to USAMRIID for in vitro and in vivo testing against viral hemorrhagic fevers.