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INEX and Alnylam Announce Allowance of New U.S. Patent Covering Delivery of RNAi Therapeutics
New Patent Broadly Covers Delivery of RNAi Therapeutics with Cationic Liposomes

09 Mar 2007 - Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has allowed claims in a patent application that covers nucleic acid-lipid compositions, including cationic liposomes, a family of specialized lipid molecules. Cationic liposomes enable the delivery of oligonucleotides, including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). The USPTO issued a "Notice of Allowance" for patent application 09/431,594, which is derived from the "Wheeler" patent series and includes a number of patents licensed exclusively to INEX through agreements with the University of British Columbia, and which Inex has exclusively licensed to Alnylam for RNAi therapeutics. Following a "Notice of Allowance," the companies would expect final issuance of the patent within six months.
 
Cationic liposomes have been used as formulations to achieve systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics in animal models including non-human primates (Zimmermann et al. (2006) Nature 441, 111-114). The newly allowed Wheeler patent covers cationic liposome compositions that contain oligonucleotides, including double-stranded RNAs such as siRNAs. In addition to the newly allowed patent, INEX and Alnylam have exclusive access to additional issued patents for delivery of oligonucleotides with cationic liposomes, including certain issued patents in the Wheeler patent series (U.S. Patent Nos. 5,976,567 and 6,815,432) and "Semple" patent series (U.S. Patent No. 6,858,225).