Blackstone and Alnylam Close $150 Million R&D Financing

​CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced the closing of the R&D funding component of the companies’ previously announced $2 billion strategic financing collaboration to accelerate the advancement of RNAi therapeutics.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alnylam will receive up to $150 million from Blackstone Life Sciences for the development of Alnylam’s cardiometabolic disease programs vutrisiran and ALN-AGT. The investment includes up to $70 million to support the ongoing HELIOS-B Phase 3 study of vutrisiran in ATTR amyloidosis patients with cardiomyopathy, and up to $80 million to support Phase 2 and Phase 3 development of ALN-AGT, in development for the treatment of hypertension.

In April 2020, Blackstone and Alnylam entered into a broad $2 billion strategic financing collaboration anchored by Blackstone’s purchase of 50 percent of royalties owed to Alnylam on global sales of inclisiran, an investigational RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities. The strategic financing collaboration is expected to enable Alnylam’s achievement of a self-sustainable financial profile without need for future equity financing, accelerating the commercial potential of Alnylam’s rapidly advancing product portfolio.

About RNAi

RNAi (RNA interference) is a natural cellular process of gene silencing that represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug development today. Its discovery has been heralded as “a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so,” and was recognized with the award of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, a new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is now a reality. Small interfering RNA (siRNA), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam’s RNAi therapeutic platform, function upstream of today’s medicines by potently silencing messenger RNA (mRNA) – the genetic precursors – that encode for disease-causing proteins, thus preventing them from being made. This is a revolutionary approach with the potential to transform the care of patients with genetic and other diseases.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) is leading the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform the lives of people afflicted with rare genetic, cardio-metabolic, infectious, and central nervous system (CNS)/ocular diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach for the treatment of a wide range of severe and debilitating diseases. Founded in 2002, Alnylam is delivering on a bold vision to turn scientific possibility into reality, with a robust RNAi therapeutics platform. Alnylam’s commercial RNAi therapeutic products are ONPATTRO® (patisiran), approved in the U.S., EU, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and Brazil, and GIVLAARI® (givosiran), approved in the U.S., EU and Brazil. Alnylam has a deep pipeline of investigational medicines, including six product candidates that are in late-stage development. Alnylam is executing on its “Alnylam 2020” strategy of building a multi-product, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a sustainable pipeline of RNAi-based medicines to address the needs of patients who have limited or inadequate treatment options. Alnylam is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information about our people, science and pipeline, please visit www.alnylam.com and engage with us on Twitter at @Alnylam or on LinkedIn.

About Blackstone Life Sciences

Blackstone Life Sciences is a private, global investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life-cycle of companies and products within the key life science sectors. By combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership, Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines and medical products that improve patients’ lives.