Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has earned a $20 million technology transfer milestone from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. as part of the companies' strategic alliance formed in May 2008. The payment is related to the transfer of Alnylam’s platform technology, including documents, materials, and intellectual property, to Takeda for the development of RNAi therapeutics. Alnylam also received a $100 million upfront payment when the deal was executed. Alnylam is eligible to receive an additional $30 million in technology transfer milestone payments.
   
“We are excited about the progress we have already made in enabling Takeda with Alnylam RNAi drug discovery capabilities and intellectual property,” said Barry Greene, president and chief operating officer at Alnylam. “We look forward to continuing our efforts in this strategic collaboration which is focused on advancing the development of RNAi therapeutics on a global basis, including Alnylam’s right to co-develop and co-commercialize certain Takeda RNAi therapeutic products in the U.S. market.”
   
The agreement provides Takeda with worldwide, non-exclusive access to and enablement with Alnylam’s RNAi therapeutics platform technology and intellectual property in the fields of oncology and metabolic disease, with the right to expand the number of therapeutic fields in the future. It also includes a collaboration and cross-license of delivery technologies between the two companies, and a drug discovery collaboration on certain RNAi targets. Alnylam has opt-in rights to co-develop and co-commercialize Takeda RNAi therapeutic programs in the U.S.