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Biogen Idec and Alnylam Alliance to Develop Therapeutics for Treatment of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML)

22 Sep 2006 - Biogen Idec and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced a collaboration to discover and develop RNAi therapeutics for the potential treatment of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). PML is caused by infection of the central nervous system with a virus called "JC virus" and can occur in certain immune-suppressed patients, including those receiving immunomodulatory therapies.
 
Alnylam and Biogen Idec will initially conduct investigative research into the potential of using RNAi technology to develop therapeutics to treat PML. Under terms of the collaboration, Biogen Idec will fund all research and development activities and Alnylam will receive an upfront payment of $5 million. In addition to this payment, assuming successful development and utilization of any product resulting from the collaboration, Alnylam would receive more than $51 million in milestone payments, and substantial undisclosed royalties and utilization fees.
 
PML is an opportunistic viral infection of the brain that usually leads to death or severe disability. With RNAi technology, small interfering RNAs or siRNAs, the molecules that mediate RNAi, can be designed and optimized toward conserved regions of a viral genome to harness the cell's own capabilities to achieve an anti-viral therapeutic effect.