Alnylam outlines R&D strategy

At its R&D day on Friday, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) refined its focus on developing RNAi therapeutics across three areas: hepatic infectious disease, genetic medicines and cardiometabolic disease. The company said it is targeting specific disease areas in the liver, as well as exploring extrahepatic applications of its discovery platform (see BioCentury, Jan. 20).

The company said it may exceed the goals of its 5x15 plan, announced in 2011, to have five RNAi programs for genetic diseases in late-stage clinical development by 2015. CEO John Maraganore said Alnylam may have at least six or seven candidates in the clinic by YE15. ...