Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the company and Max Planck have asked the Court to dismiss the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from any claims for monetary damages in the ongoing litigation related to the Tuschl I patent series. As part of the request for dismissal, MIT has stipulated it will be bound by any declaratory, injunctive, or equitable relief to the extent that the Court may ultimately award such relief against the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research or the University of Massachusetts. Whitehead and UMass remain as defendants in the suit, which was originally filed in June 2009.
“a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so”
In the field of RNAi therapeutics, Alnylam is the exclusive licensee of the Tuschl I patents and patent applications from Max Planck, MIT, and the Whitehead Institute and of the Tuschl II patents and patent applications from Max Planck.
As this matter is in active litigation, Alnylam and Max Planck will not be able to provide specific details in response to inquiries on this topic.
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