Tekmira Gets $11.2M Commitment from Alnylam

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals expects to receive $11.2 million during the next three years from partner Alnylam Pharmaceuticals for process development and manufacturing services. This commitment is part of the company’s manufacturing pact with Alnylam for the development of RNAi therapeutics through Phase II using Tekmira’s SNALP technology, including Alnylam’s clinical candidate ALN-VSP. The manufacturing and development funding is in addition to ongoing research activities between the two companies and in addition to milestone payments Alnylam is eligible to receive.

Dr. Mark J. Murray, Tekmira’s president and chief executive officer, said, “This manufacturing and development funding underlines Alnylam’s commitment to our partnership and to utilizing our leading SNALP delivery technology for multiple RNAi therapeutic product candidates. We have built a core competency around the design, development and manufacture of our SNALP formulations, including the manufacture of clinical products, and we provide this capability to our pharmaceutical partners to generate revenue to fund the development of our own proprietary products.”

In December 2008, Alnylam filed an IND with FDA for approval to begin human clinical trials for ALN-VSP, a potential treatment for liver cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma and other solid tumors. ALN-VSP will be the first RNAi therapeutic using Tekmira’s SNALP technology to be evaluated in humans.

Under the partnership, Tekmira is eligible to receive as much as $16 million in milestones on each RNAi therapeutic advanced by Alnylam that utilizes Tekmira’s technology, as well as royalties on product sales.