Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a leader in RNAi therapeutics, is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on a breakthrough in biology known as RNA interference, or RNAi; a discovery that enables the creation of a broad new class of human therapeutics. Using RNAi, Alnylam has built a product platform to develop a deep pipeline of drug products to treat a wide array of important diseases.
Company Fact Sheet (pdf - 1.89 MB)
Founded by leading scientists who pioneered the discovery of RNAi, Alnylam is developing technology with the potential to specifically and potently silence disease-causing genes. RNA interference is a natural cellular process for selectively turning off the activity of genes by targeting RNA, the key intermediate between DNA and proteins. By harnessing this natural process, Alnylam is developing novel therapeutics that will utilize the natural RNAi mechanism to selectively suppress genes that produce proteins that play harmful roles in disease.
Alnylam is leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines with peer-reviewed research efforts published in the world's top scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine, and Cell. The company is leveraging these capabilities to build a broad pipeline of RNAi therapeutics; its most advanced program is in Phase II human clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. In addition, the company is developing RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of influenza, hypercholesterolemia, and liver cancers, amongst other diseases. 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 Medtronic, Novartis, Biogen Idec, and Roche. The company, founded in 2002, maintains headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It's a hard name to say (al-NIGH-lam)...but we found it in the constellation Orion. Alnilam is the name of the center star of Orion's belt. The star has a luminosity that is 250,000 times greater than the sun. The ancient Egyptians are believed to have built the three pyramids of Giza in alignment with the three stars of Orion's belt. The star Alnilam is aligned with the central pyramid.