Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) said today it has received an undisclosed milestone payment from its partner, Roche, for starting studies that pave the way for clinical trials of a certain drug candidate. The Roche collaboration, formed in July 2007, provided $331 million in upfront cash and equity, and could be worth more than $1 billion over time, Alnylam has said. Analyst Simos Simeonidis of Rodman & Renshaw, in a note to clients, said the milestone is positive because it shows Roche is making progress in developing RNA interference therapies, and it provides some operating cash to Alnylam without diluting the value of its stock.
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
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