Roche partners with Alnylam on RNAi therapeutic zilebesiran

Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) has entered into a new partnership with USA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY) to develop and commercialize zilebesiran, the latter’s investigational RNAi therapeutic currently in Phase II for the treatment of hypertension.

In July 2007, Roche and Alnylam entered into a major alliance in which Roche obtained a non-exclusive license to Alnylam's technology platform for developing RNAi (RNA interference) therapeutics.

According to the companies, based on the positive Phase I data, zilebesiran could be a best-in-disease treatment and provide transformational benefit, especially for patients with hypertension at high cardiovascular risk. It also has the potential of improved adherence and compliance to treatment due to the possible biannual subcutaneous dosing regime. In addition, zilebesiran could provide patient benefit in additional cardiovascular indications with high unmet medical need.