Biopharma company contributes to GSK’s ‘patent pool’
pharmafile | July 10, 2009 | News story | Research and Development | Orphan
Biopharma company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is to put some of its intellectual property at the disposal of researchers into neglected tropical diseases.
The Massachusetts-based biopharma firm will contribute more than 1,500 issued or pending patents on its RNA interference (RNAi) technology.
These will go into GlaxoSmithKline's so-called "patent pool" which is designed to help others develop potential treatments.
They are added to the 500 granted patents and 300 pending applications which GSK has already pledged.
GSK announced in March that it was to adopt a "more flexible approach" to intellectual property rights in a bid to stimulate research.
"The key objective of the pool is to make it easier for researchers across the world to access intellectual property that may be useful," said GSK chief executive Andrew Witty.
"The more companies, academic institutions and foundations that join the pool, the more effective it will be. Alnylam's announcement today is therefore a welcome and significant step forward."
The diseases targeted include tuberculosis, malaria, cholera and leprosy from a list of 16 neglected tropical diseases (NTD) which blight the world's least developed countries.
The vast geographic area affected takes in much of western and central Africa as well as several countries in South-East Asia.
Alnylam's RNAi platform works around the concept of how genes are turned on and off in cells and the technology has already helped to identify new targets for malaria treatments.
It targets specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), silencing them to prevent the creation of disease-causing proteins.
Alnylam's chief executive John Maraganore said: "We are very proud to be joining GSK in this unique and bold vision of social responsibility for some of the world's poorest nations."
"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.
Although Alnylam is the first company to join GSK's initiative, last month Merck separately announced it would make available some intellectual property to a not-for-profit initiative to look into new ways of treating tropical illnesses.
Related stories:
Merck takes aim at neglected tropical diseases
June 25, 2009
GSK pledges further trial transparency
March 26, 2009
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