Alnylam and Tekmira settle litigation and ink new licensing deal

Alnylam and Tekmira have entered into a settlement agreement and signed a new licensing deal that restructures their relationship and provides clarity on intellectual property and licensing issues.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation have announced a new licensing agreement after settling all ongoing litigation between the two companies.

The new agreement marks a restructuring of the companies' relationship and clarifies intellectual property elements relating to lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology for RNAi therapeutics.

Alnylam will independently manufacture its LNP-based RNAi therapeutic products and has also reduced the milestone and royalty burdens on several of its products.

"Further, the companies have created clarity around the overall patent estate for LNP-based products, while ensuring Alnylam's full access to use this technology for our products in the future," revealed Barry Greene, president and chief operating officer of Alnylam.

He added that the company is pleased to have reached a legal settlement.

Tekmira will receive $65 million as a result of the restructuring of its license agreements with Alnylam.
Dr Mark Murray, president and chief executive officer of Tekmira, welcomed the announcement and said that the company had "accomplished what we set out to do when we initiated this litigation"