Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY) recently announced that it has received a payment of $10 million from Japanese drug company Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. The payment resulted from the transfer of Alnylam’s RNAi (Ribo Nucleic Acid interference) therapeutics platform technology to Takeda for the development of RNAi therapeutics.
Documents, materials, and know-how were transferred for Takeda’s use under a strategic alliance formed between the companies in May 2008.
Alnylam has already received $140 million from Takeda as upfront and technology transfer payments in the past. Alnylam is also eligible to receive further milestone payments and royalties if Takeda’s RNAi therapeutic products advance successfully in clinical trials. Alnylam also possesses opt-in rights to co-develop and co-commercialize products in the US with Takeda (on an equal sharing basis) once the products reach phase III trials.
Under the collaboration, Takeda has worldwide access to Alnylam’s platform technology and intellectual property for developing RNAi therapeutics for cancer and metabolic disease. It can also be used for other therapeutic areas in the future. The collaboration could be worth more than $1 billion.
Alnylam’s RNAi technology is a breakthrough in biology. The company is currently utilizing this technology to build a pipeline of drug candidates for the treatment of a wide array of diseases.
Alnylam has partnerships with many other large pharmaceutical companies such as Biogen Idec (BIIB), Medtronic Inc (MDT), Takeda, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST) and Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) to further develop and utilize its core technology.
Our Recommendation
We currently have a Neutral recommendation on Alnylam, which is supported by a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating). We like the company’s newly launched “5X15” initiative and are pleased with the progress of the company’s pipeline. Alnylam’s balance sheet is also very strong.
However, with the end of two major deals with Novartis AG (NVS) and Roche Holdings Ltd (RHHBY) in the recent past, we prefer to remain on the sidelines as the company could lose out on major milestone payments and royalties. We also await further visibility on the clinical progress of the pipeline as well as Alnylam’s ability to enter into large partnerships.
ALNYLAM PHARMA (ALNY): Free Stock Analysis Report
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