www.fdanews.com/articles/80697-novartis-seals-research-alliance-with-alnylam
NOVARTIS SEALS RESEARCH ALLIANCE WITH ALNYLAM
September 7, 2005
Drugmaker Novartis unveiled a research alliance with U.S.-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals worth up to $700 million and aimed at a hot field of gene therapy called RNA interference, or RNAi. The collaboration is designed to produce new treatments using RNAi therapy -- used to "silence" disease-causing genes -- for numerous ailments and is especially promising for diseases that evade traditional treatments, Novartis said in a statement. Analysts welcomed the deal as making strategic sense for the Basel-based drugmaker which has spent billions of dollars so far this year to bolster the various parts of its business.