Alnylam, sanofi-aventis, Sirna, SR Pharma chemistry news

ALNY said the European Patent Office upheld the company's European Patent No. EP 1144623 covering siRNAs. The patent was opposed by SAN, RNAI and SPA, which wanted the patent revoked. ALNY said that during the opposition proceedings, it agreed with the EPO that the claims of the patent should be narrowed to siRNAs of 15-21 nucleotides in length that are stabilized with chemical modifications. As originally issued, the patent covered siRNAs of up to 25 nucleotides. ...