Alnylam joins GSK in donating intellectual property to patent pool for neglected tropical diseases

Alnylam is to contribute more than 1,500 issued or pending patents on its RNA interference (RNAi) technology patent estate to the patent pool established by GSK earlier this year.

US-based Alnylam is the first company to add to the approximately 800 patent filings GSK provided to populate the pool in March. The company's RNAi platform provides an innovative approach to drug discovery and development through "gene silencing", a technology that targets the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made.

"The key objective of the pool is to make it easier for researchers across the world to access intellectual property that may be useful in the search for new medicines to treat neglected tropical diseases," said Andrew Witty, ceo of GSK. "The more companies, academic institutions and foundations that join the pool, the more effective it will be."

The patent pool was formed to aid in the discovery and development of new medicines for the treatment of 16 neglected tropical diseases (NTD), including tuberculosis, leprosy and dengue fever, in the world's least developed countries. The patent pool will facilitate access to compounds and technologies for organisations that want to conduct research on treatments for these diseases.

Alnylam will provide RNAi intellectual property, technology and expertise on a royalty-free, non-profit basis in the least developed countries through licensing agreements with qualified third parties.

RNAi technology has already helped to identify new targets for malaria treatments. In the future, RNAi therapeutics may themselves be developed and used directly in the treatment of more neglected tropical diseases.