By Donald Zuhn --
Last month, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced that it would contribute more than 1,500 of its RNA interference (RNAi) patents to the patent pool established by GlaxoSmithKline earlier this year. Alnylam is known for the development of therapeutics based on RNAi for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, liver cancer, hypercholesterolemia, Huntington's disease, and TTR amyloidosis.
The biopharmaceutical company, based in Cambridge, MA, becomes the first company other than GSK to add patents to the pool. The pool, which was formed to aid in the discovery and development of new medicines for the treatment of sixteen neglected tropical diseases (as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration), was established by GSK in March with an initial contribution of about 800 GSK patents. GSK CEO Andrew Witty stated that GSK was delighted by Alnylam's donation, noting that "[t]he 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," and adding that "[t]he more companies, academic institutions and foundations that join the pool, the more effective it will be." Alnylam CEO Dr. John Maraganore stated that Alnylam is "committed to the innovation of medicines for patients, so we cannot ignore the potential of our technology to make a difference in the discovery of important new medicines for neglected diseases that afflict millions of people each year." He added that Alnylam was "very proud to be joining GSK in this unique and bold vision of social responsibility for some of the world's poorest nations."
The patents in the pool will be provided on a royalty-free, non-profit basis in Least Developed Countries (as identified by the United Nations, and including much of western and central Africa and several countries in Southeast Asia) via licensing agreements with qualified third parties. The sixteen neglected tropical diseases being targeted by the pool are: tuberculosis, malaria, blinding trachoma, buruli ulcer, cholera, dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever, racunculiasis, fascioliasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminthiasis, and yaws.